Former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte arrived in the Hague, after being arrested in his home country by Interpol on the authority of a warrant from the International Criminal Court. Duterte was taken into custody in the airport of the capital city, Manila, upon returning from Hong Kong on Tuesday.
According to a statement from the Philippines’ Presidential Communications office, “upon his (Duterte’s) arrival, the Prosecutor General filed an ICC notification for an arrest warrant against the former President for crimes against humanity.” Current president Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. – son of another autocratic leader of the country known for violent repression, Ferdinand Marcos Sr. – confirmed his government’s cooperation with Interpol over the arrest. “Interpol asked for help and we obliged because we have commitments to the Interpol which we have to fulfill,” he told reporters on Tuesday night.
Duterte instituted and oversaw a crackdown on drug dealers in his country, carried out with indiscriminate violence that raised widespread anger at the former president throughout his country, including his own supporters. Some 6,000 Filipinos were killed between 2011 and 2019 according to government statistics, although independent monitors estimate a much higher death toll.
Duterte’s children have issued public statements regarding his arrest. His youngest daughter Veronica excoriated Interpol for “taking him out on a plane by force without considering his health conditions.” His older daughter, Sara, who is also the country’s current vice president, was quoted in the English-language newspaper The Philippine Star: “as I write this, he is being forcibly taken to The Hague tonight. This is not justice – this is oppression and persecution.”
The ICC stated that a hearing for Duterte will be scheduled once he is in custody at the Hague.
