Duterte will be taken before an ICC judge in the Hague in the coming days and for his first appearance, the court said.
Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte arrived in the Netherlands and surrendered to International Criminal Court (ICC) custody over allegations of crimes against humanity over the fatal “war on drugs.”
Duterte was arrested Tuesday in Manila’s Philippine capital and was boarded a plane to Rotterdam by police after returning from a trip to Hong Kong.
In a statement Wednesday, the ICC said Duterte, 79, was “arrested by the Philippine Republic authorities in accordance with an arrest warrant issued by the trial chamber I for murder as a crime against humanity.”
He will be taken before an ICC judge in the Hague in the coming days and taken for his first appearance, the statement said. He was transferred to detention forces on the Dutch coast.
The ICC warrant for his arrest stated that as president, Duterte had established, funded, created armed forces, and created armed forces, which participated in the murder of drug users and dealers.
He was able to become the first former Asian head of state to be tried in The Hague.
Rival protest
Outside the ICC building in The Hague, anti-Dutarte protesters welcomed the arrest and read, “I demand justice and accountability, and Rodrigo Duterte is a war criminal!”
Menandro Avanes told Reuters that Duterte’s arrest was “big news for the Filipinos.”
“I’m here to show my gratitude [the] The ICC did the job to end the immunity,” Avanes added.
Another protester, Mary Grace Labassan, also told Reuters that Duterte was “lucky.”
“He is going through a legitimate process of law compared to victims who have just been shot and killed without justification,” she said.
Pro-dutere protesters also gathered in the court building.
In 2021, the ICC launched an investigation into the mass murders related to the drug war, where he was Davao City mayor and later president, overseen by Duterte.
According to the warrant, an ICC judge who investigated the evidence from the prosecution in favour of the request for arrest found “reasonable basis” as “a mayor of Davao and an indirect co-host who allegedly oversaw the murders after the president of the Philippines.”
Police say in Duterte’s six years as president, 6,200 suspects were killed during an anti-drug operation. Human rights advocates estimate that around 30,000 people have died.
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