Manila, Mar. 11, (dpa/GNA) – Former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte was being flown to The Hague on Tuesday after he was arrested on a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity amid the “war on drugs” during his time in power.
Duterte, who is turning 80 on March 28, was taken into police custody upon arrival in Manila from a trip to Hong Kong as requested by Interpol, the Philippine Presidential Communications Office said in a statement.
He was flown out of the country aboard a chartered plane 12 hours later.
“The plane carrying former president Rodrigo Roa Duterte took off at 11.03 pm (1503 GMT) this evening and exited Philippine airspace,” said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
“The plane is en route to The Hague, the Netherlands, allowing the former president to face charges of crimes against humanity in relation to his bloody war on drugs.”
Duterte was president of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022, during which time he implemented a “war on drugs” that left thousands of suspects dead in police operations. He has said in the past he was prepared to go to jail for the controversial campaign.
Marcos Jr said the request to arrest Duterte, who would be the first Asian former head of state to go on trial at the ICC, came from Interpol and not the ICC, stressing that his administration was consistent in its stand not to cooperate with the tribunal.
“Mr Duterte was arrested in compliance with our commitments to Interpol,” he said. “Interpol asked for help, and we obliged because we have commitments to Interpol, which we have to fulfil. If we don’t do that, they will no longer help us with other cases involving Filipino fugitives abroad.”
Attorney Martin Delgra III, Duterte’s counsel, said the former president was accompanied by his nurse and personal assistant inside the plane.
Vice President Sara Duterte, who was impeached in February and will face trial at the Senate, tried to see her father before the plane took off, but she was not allowed to enter the air base.
“I’m telling you all, Filipinos, don’t let a Filipino be taken away by foreigners, especially if it has no legal basis,” she told reporters as supporters of her father gathered outside, some crying and others shouting.
“This is actually some sort of state kidnapping. That’s seems to be what’s going on.”
The vice president alleged that the swift action was meant to boost the administration’s standing in upcoming mid-term elections in May.
“All because it looks like they will lose the mid-term election,” she said.
Marcos Jr rejected allegations that the arrest and immediate departure for The Hague was politically motivated, saying: “This case started in 2017 … I don’t see how that can be political persecution on my part, because (the case) was initiated before I even came into the picture.
“This is the evolution of his case and this is where we end up,” he added.
When asked for a message to the former president’s supporters, Marcos Jr said, “The government is just doing its job … The politics doesn’t enter into it.”
Families and HRW hope for ‘accountability’
The ICC launched an investigation in 2018 into the “war on drugs” after complaints were filed by opposition politicians and families of the victims. The Philippines withdrew from the ICC a month after the preliminary investigation started.
Llore Pasco, mother of two victims of the drug war whose killings were among the cases included in the ICC investigation, said Duterte’s arrest was the first step towards justice for them.
“I cried when I heard of what happened,” she said in a radio interview. “This is it. Finally what we have been waiting for could happen, for Duterte to be arrested, jailed and be held accountable for his crimes.”
Pasco said that even if Duterte now asks for forgiveness for the killings, it would not be enough.
“He needs to be held accountable,” she said. “Even if he says sorry now, it is not enough because we lost our loved ones – fathers, children and parents. It is not enough because families are still suffering. We are still enduring the pain.”
According to official records from the national police and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, at least 6,252 people were killed in anti-drug operations from July 1, 2016, to May 31, 2022.
Local and international human rights groups have estimated the death toll to be three times higher. Questions have also arisen about whether the suspects were extrajudicially killed by police and whether some of those killed actually had any role in drug sales.
Human Rights Watch (HRW), which has been campaigning against the “war on drugs,” said the arrest was a “critical step for accountability in the Philippines.”
“His arrest could bring victims and their families closer to justice and sends the clear message that no one is above the law,” said Bryony Lau, HRW’s deputy Asia director.
GNA