MANILA, Philippines
Former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte was arrested at Manila airport on Tuesday after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a warrant for his arrest related to his so-called "war on drugs."
"Early in the morning,
Interpol Manila received the official copy of the warrant of arrest from the
ICC," President Ferdinand Marcos' office said in a statement.
"As of now, he is under the custody of authorities."
The authorities said the
79-year-old former leader was in good health and had been examined by
government doctors.
Duterte was flying back from
Hong Kong, where he said he was ready to be arrested.
He faces a charge of
"the crime against humanity of murder", according to the ICC.
Duterte's was president of the
Southeast Asian nation from 2016 to 2022, saw thousands of people
killed. The "war on drugs" was the main campaign promise that
helped Duterte become president in 2016.
According to police, 6,200
suspects were killed during anti-drug operations but activists say the real
toll of the crackdown was far greater.
During his time in office,
Duterte withdrew the Philippines from the ICC, which had initiated an
investigation into the extrajudicial killings.
The formal inquiry launched in
September 2021 was suspended two months later due to Manila's re-examination of
drug-related deaths, but resumed
in July 2023 after a five-judge panel rejected the Philippines'
jurisdictional objection.
President Ferdinand Marcos
Jr., who succeeded Duterte in 2022 and became embroiled in a bitter political
dispute with the former president and his daughter,
Sara Duterte, has decided not to rejoin the ICC.
But the Marcos government has
said it would cooperate if the ICC asks international police to take Duterte
into custody through a so-called Red Notice, a request to law enforcement
agencies worldwide to locate and temporarily detain a crime suspect.
Duterte's former legal counsel
Salvador Panelo said the arrest was unlawful.
The ICC, based in The Hague,
Netherlands, can step in when countries are unwilling or unable to prosecute
suspects for the most heinous international crimes, including genocide, war
crimes, and crimes against humanity.
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