Former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte was being transferred to The Hague to face charges of crimes against humanity on Tuesday, after being arrested under an International Criminal Court warrant over a crackdown on drugs that resulted in thousands of deaths in the southeast Asian country.
Mr Duterte (79) was detained in Manila on Tuesday on his return from a trip to Hong Kong, Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s office said in a statement.
Mr Marcos later said a plane carrying Mr Duterte left the Philippine airspace at about 11pm local time to take him to The Hague “allowing the former president to face charges of crimes against humanity in relation to his bloody war on drugs”. Footage showed Mr Duterte, who was president from 2016 until 2022, boarding an aircraft at Villamor Air Base.
Sara Duterte, the former president’s daughter and current Philippine vice-president who is locked in a bitter feud with Mr Marcos, said her father had been “forcibly taken” to the Netherlands, adding it was a “blatant affront to our sovereignty”.
US says ‘ball in Russia’s court’ after Ukraine agrees to 30-day ceasefire
Remote worker told to relocate from Monaghan to Cork under ‘return to office’ mandate
Micheál Martin tight lipped ahead of Oval Office meeting with Trump, as Burke family travel to Washington
Two teenage boys go on trial accused of raping 16-year-old girl at St Stephen’s Day race meeting
Mr Marcos denied the arrest was political persecution, insisting it was part of Manila’s international commitments. “Duterte was arrested in compliance with our commitments to Interpol. This is what the international community expects of us as the leader of a democratic country,” he said.
As president, Mr Duterte oversaw a national crackdown on illicit narcotics, expanding on an anti-drug campaign he pursued as mayor of Davao City.
The campaign, which targeted suspected drug dealers and users, led to the deaths of thousands of mostly poor Filipinos and raised global alarm over extrajudicial killings.
In a video posted on social media on Tuesday by another daughter, Veronica Duterte, the former president questioned the legality of his arrest. “What is the law and what is the crime I have committed? Show to me now the legal basis for my being here,” he said.
A three-judge ICC panel said there were “reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Duterte is individually responsible for the crime against humanity of murder”, citing “widespread and systematic” attacks on civilians during his time as mayor of Davao City and president, according to a copy of the arrest warrant seen by the Financial Times.
The ICC public affairs unit said that the charges related to murders allegedly committed between November 2011 and March 2019.
At least 6,200 Filipinos were killed in the crackdown, according to the Philippine government, but rights groups say the real toll was much higher.
A 2022 report by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights put the death toll at 8,663, based on official figures, although it also noted other groups have put the total at more than triple that number.
The ICC began a preliminary investigation in 2018 into allegations of extrajudicial killings during the course of the anti-drug operations.
Mr Duterte withdrew the Philippines from the ICC the following year, but his successor indicated it would co-operate with the court.
Mr Duterte and an ally, senator Ronald dela Rosa, filed a petition with the Philippine supreme court for a temporary restraining order to block the ICC warrant.
The ICC warrant noted that while the Philippines has withdrawn from the court, the alleged crimes were committed while the country was under its jurisdiction.
The Duterte and Marcos families, once electoral allies, are now bitter rivals. Sara Duterte last year said she had hired an assassin to kill Mr Marcos, though she has since tried to retract those comments. An impeachment motion has been filed against her over the threat.
“The Dutertes’ earlier attempts to pressure Marcos, including via thinly veiled coup threats, to protect the former president ultimately backfired,” said Peter Mumford, Eurasia Group practice head for southeast Asia. “Marcos probably felt he had nothing to lose from allowing Duterte’s arrest.” – The Financial Times
