A former Philippine president, Rodrigo Duterte, has been arrested and taken into custody.......CONTINUE READING THE ARTICLE FROM THE SOURCE>>>>>
His arrest happened following a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court, ICC.
He will be facing prosecution for his so-called “war on drugs”.
The president’s office said the former leader was arrested on Tuesday morning at Manila airport after flying back from Hong Kong.
“Early in the morning, Interpol Manila received the official copy of the warrant of the arrest from the ICC,” the presidential palace said in a statement, as quoted by the Guardian UK.
It added, “As of now, he is under the custody of authorities.”
The 79-year-old Duterte, had responded to recent speculation that an arrest warrant was imminent.
He said on Sunday that “If this is really my fate in life, that’s OK, I will accept it. There’s nothing we can do.”
He ascended the country’s leadership in 2016 after promising a merciless, bloody crackdown that would rid the country of drugs.
On the campaign trail he once said that there would be so many bodies dumped in Manila Bay that fish would grow fat from feeding on them.
Since his election, between 12,000 and 30,000 civilians are estimated to have been killed in connection with anti-drugs operations, according to data cited by the ICC.
Most of the victims were men from poor, urban areas, shot dead in the streets by police officers or unidentified assailants.
The ICC’s investigation into the anti-drugs killings covers alleged crimes committed from November 2011 to June 2016, including a wave of extrajudicial killings in Davao City, where Duterte was previously mayor, as well as across the country during his presidency up until 16 March 16 2019, when the Philippines withdrew from the court, as the Guardian UK reported.
