DUTERTE FLOWN TO THE HAGUE FOR ICC TRIAL

FORMER President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday night was flown from Villamor Air Base to the International Criminal Court (ICC) headquarters in The Hague, the Netherlands, following his arrest on the same day.

A prosecutor general from the ICC had served a warrant of arrest against Duterte upon his arrival to the Philippines from Hong Kong.

Duterte’s arrest comes after the ICC issued a warrant against him over allegations of crimes against humanity in connection with his administration’s controversial war on drugs.

The former president, who served from 2016 to 2022, oversaw a bloody anti-drug campaign that led to thousands of deaths, many of which were alleged to be extrajudicial killings.

In 2018, Duterte withdrew the Philippines from the ICC after the tribunal launched a preliminary investigation into his drug war policies. However, the ICC ruled that it retains jurisdiction over crimes committed while the Philippines was still a member.

According to official government data, the Duterte administration’s drug war claimed at least 6,000 lives.

However, human rights watchdogs and the ICC estimated the death toll from the drug war to be between 12,000 and 30,000 from 2016 to 2019.