Ex-Philippine President Duterte arrested on ICC warrant over drug killings

IRNA - Police in the Philippines have arrested former President Rodrigo Duterte following an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) over a case of crime against humanity filed against him.

Duterte was taken into custody upon arrival from Hong Kong on Tuesday, hours after the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) Manila received the arrest warrant from the ICC, President Ferdinand Marcos’ office said in a statement.

“Upon arrival, the Prosecutor General presented the official ICC notification confirming the arrest warrant to the former president,” the statement said.

The government had earlier said it would not cooperate with the ICC but it noted that the country will be obliged to act to help the Interpol.

79-year-old Duterte is being investigated for the mass killings during his presidency after he launched a bloody war on drugs.

The surprise arrest sparked a commotion at the airport, where lawyers and aides of Duterte tried to prevent his detention calling it “a violation of his constitutional right.”

The arrest, however, has been hailed by the families of the victims. “This is a big, long-awaited day for justice,” said Randy delos Santos, the uncle of a teenager killed by police during an anti-drug operation in August 2017 in Manila.

The ICC began investigating drug killings under Duterte in late 2011, when he was still mayor of the southern city of Davao.

In 2019, Duterte withdrew the Philippines from the Rome Statute in a move human rights activists say was aimed at escaping accountability for the crimes committed during his presidency. 

The Duterte administration also tried to suspend the ICC investigation in late 2021, arguing that Manila was already looking into the matter and that The Hague-based court didn’t have jurisdiction.

Appeals judges at the ICC in 2023 rejected those arguments and ruled in favor of resuming the investigation about extrajudicial killings.