The Philippines on Tuesday arrested former President Rodrigo Duterte at the request of the International Criminal Court, ICC, a major step in the world body’s investigation into thousands of killings in a bloody war on drugs that defined his presidency.......CONTINUE READING THE ARTICLE FROM THE SOURCE>>>>>
The presidency said in a statement that Duterte, the maverick former mayor who led the Philippines from 2016 to 2022, was served an arrest warrant on arrival from Hong Kong at Manila’s main airport and is now in custody.
The war on drugs was Duterte’s signature campaign platform that swept the mercurial, crime-busting former prosecutor to power in 2016 and he soon delivered on promises made during vitriolic speeches to kill thousands of drug dealers and users.
If transferred to the Hague, he could become Asia’s first former head of state to go on trial at the ICC.
Meanwhile, Duterte has insisted he told police to kill only in self-defence and has repeatedly defended the crackdown, saying he was willing to rot in jail if it meant ridding the Philippines of drugs.
In a video posted on Instagram by daughter Veronica Duterte from Manila’s Villamor Air Base, where he has been placed in custody, the former leader questioned the reason for his arrest.
“What is the law and what is the crime that I committed?” he said in the video. It was unclear who he was speaking to.
“I was brought here not of my own volition, it is somebody else’s. You have to answer now for the deprivation of liberty.”
According to police, no fewer than 6,200 suspects were killed during anti-drug operations that they say ended in shootouts.
However, activists say the real toll of Duterte’s crackdown was far greater, with many thousands more slumland drug users.
