Ex-President Duterte on the way to The Hague after arrest

 

Duterte goes up the Lear jet that will take him to The Hague

Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was put on a plane bound for The Hague in the Netherlands shortly after 11pm tonight, Mar. 11, hours after he was arrested at the request of the International Criminal Court over killings during his war on drugs.

His transfer to The Hague makes him Asia’s first former head of state to go on trial at the ICC.

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Duterte was arrested at about 9:20 this morning by local police acting at the request of the Interpol, as his plane landed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila from Hong Kong, where he met with overseas Filipino workers on Sunday.

Duterte is given a medical check-up by government doctors after his arrest

Some political commentators said he used his unannounced trip to Hong Kong to ask help from Beijing after hearing of the plan to arrest him, but was apparently unsuccessful.

His flight to The Hague in the company of his former executive secretary and lawyer Salvador Medialdea was disclosed by several people, including his youngest daughter Veronica, who said on Instagram that her family had not been told of the private plane’s destination.

"They took dad from us, put him on a plane and wouldn't say where to. People, wake up," she posted.

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Vice President Sara Duterte, the former president’s embattled older daughter, said she had tried to gain entry to Villamor Airbase where her father was detained before being whisked away, but was rebuffed.

“As I write this, he is being forcibly taken to The Hague tonight. This is not justice – this is oppression and persecution,” she said.

She condemned her father’s arrest as illegal, saying he was denied of his fundamental right to be brought before a court so he could assert his rights and avail of reliefs provided by law.

Shortly after Duterte’s plane took off, President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., held a news conference to confirm that the plane was heading to The Hague (see separate story).

The ICC will investigate Duterte's alleged crimes against humanity

A last-minute attempt by his lawyers to get the Philippine Supreme Court to stop him being taken away and put under the ICC’s jurisdiction resulted in the country’s top judicial body merely announcing that the case would be raffled off. The hoped-for temporary restraining order did not materialize.

Shortly after his arrest Duterte also tried to resist being sent off to The Hague, saying he should only be tried by a Philippine court.

"ICC is out of the question… We are not a signatory of the ICC. Diyan ako hindi papayag," he told the arresting officers. (I will not agree to that). 

He also said he was certain the Supreme Court would not allow him to be taken away and tried before a foreign court.

 

Duterte who led the Philippines from 2016 to 2022, was arrested following the ICC’s investigation into the thousands of “extrajudicial killings” that were carried out in line with his anti-drugs campaign.

But he has always maintained that the police linked to the killings had only acted in self-defence, and insisted that those killed, including a number of young teenagers, were drug dealers.

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Duterte also repeatedly said in public that he was committed to ridding the country of drugs, even it meant him ending in jail.

However, human rights activists have documented cases that showed many of those killed were innocent bystanders, and pointed to several of Duterte’s close friends as the real drug dealers.

Just before leaving Hong Kong, he again taunted the ICC, saying he had long waited for it to arrest him.

In 2019, he unilaterally withdrew the Philippines’ membership from the ICC, and has since used this as an excuse for saying the international court could have no jurisdiction over him.

But the ICC maintains it retains the right to investigate alleged crimes that took place while a country was a member.

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