Ex-Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte arrested by ICC
The 79-year-old former head of state is accused of committing crimes against humanity for the murder of tens of thousands of poor men by police officers and vigilantes without proof they were linked to drugs.
Former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte has been arrested by police following a warrant of arrest by the by the International Criminal Court (ICC) over crimes against humanity tied to his war on drugs.
The 79-year-old former head of state is accused of committing crimes against humanity for the murder of tens of thousands of poor men by police officers and vigilantes without proof they were linked to drugs.
Rodrigo was arrested in Manila.
“Interpol Manila received the official copy of the warrant of the arrest from the ICC. As of now, he is under the custody of authorities,” the presidential palace said in a statement.
The palace further stated that the former president, together with his team who were arrested with him, are in good health and are being checked by government doctors.
Rodrigo had just landed in Manila after a brief trip to Hong Kong when he was arrested.
On Sunday, the former president had indicated that he would accept arrest being his fate as he decried of the ICC investigations labelling the investigators ‘sons of whores.’
While in the presidency, Rodrigo gave orders for the Philippines to quit ICC in 2019 but the tribunal maintained the jurisdiction before the pullout.
A formal inquiry was launched in September 2021 but was suspended two months after Manila indicated that it was re-examining several hundred cases of drug operations that led to deaths at the hands of police, hitmen, and vigilantes.
The case resumed in 2023 when a five judge bench rejected the objection by the Philippines that the ICC lacked jurisdiction.
In many instances, the current president, Ferdinand Marcos, has stated that his government would not cooperate with the investigators, but over the weekend, the Presidential Communications Office Claire Castro said that if Interpol would ask the necessary assistance from the government, they are obliged to follow.
Former president Rodrigo is popular among the Philippines who supported his quick-fix on crime.
A self-professed killer, Rodrigo told officers to fatally shoot narcotics suspects if their lives were at risk and insisted the crackdown saved families and prevented the Philippines from turning into a ‘narco-politics state’.
At the opening of a Philippine Senate probe into the drug war in October, Duterte said he offered “no apologies, no excuses” for his actions.
“I did what I had to do, and whether or not you believe it or not, I did it for my country,” he previously said.
