A Gulfstream G550 aircraft believed to hold former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is seen after touchdown at Rotterdam The Hague Airport, following Dutertre’s arrest on an Worldwide Legal Courtroom warrant tied to his lethal crackdown on medicine, on March 12, 2025.| Picture by JOHN THYS / AFP
ROTTERDAM, Netherlands — A spokesman for the Worldwide Legal Courtroom confirmed that former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte had arrived Wednesday within the Netherlands to face costs of crimes in opposition to humanity over his conflict on medicine.
“I affirm the aircraft landed,” Fadi El Abdallah instructed reporters, later confirming that Duterte was on board.
The ICC, based mostly in The Hague, has mentioned there have been “cheap grounds” to imagine Duterte dedicated the crime in opposition to humanity of homicide as an “oblique co-perpetrator” throughout the anti-drug marketing campaign that rights teams estimate killed tens of hundreds.
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‘Flight carrying Duterte to The Hague most tracked worldwide’
TIMELINE: Former President Rodrigo Duterte’s ICC arrest
Ex-President Duterte nonetheless a Davao Metropolis mayoral candidate – Comelec
The 79-year-old is the primary Asian former head of state to face costs on the ICC, which guidelines on the world’s worst crimes, together with conflict crimes, crimes in opposition to humanity and genocide.
As soon as in ICC custody, Duterte will probably be taken to a detention centre earlier than an preliminary look more likely to be scheduled within the coming days.
The centre, situated near the North Coastline, affords every prisoner a person cell geared up with a pc to work on their case, together with an out of doors train space.
Talking to AFP exterior the ICC, Gilbert Andres, a lawyer representing victims of the drug conflict, mentioned: “My shoppers are very grateful to God as a result of their prayers have been answered.”
“The arrest of Rodrigo Duterte is a superb sign for worldwide prison justice. It implies that nobody is above the regulation… There will probably be a day of justice for everybody… even highly effective males similar to Rodrigo Duterte,” Andres added.
However dozens of pro-Duterte protesters gathered in entrance of the detention centre, unfurling a banner studying: “We’re with Duterte” and waving flags.
“There was no due course of,” mentioned caregiver Duds Quibin, 50. “That is kidnapping. They only put him on a aircraft and introduced him right here.”
‘Oppression and persecution’
Earlier Wednesday, attorneys filed a petition to the Supreme Courtroom within the Philippines accusing the federal government of “kidnapping” Duterte and demanding it “convey him again”.
“The ICC can solely train its jurisdiction if a rustic’s nationwide authorized system just isn’t functioning,” lawyer Salvador Paolo Panelo Jr. instructed reporters exterior the courtroom, insisting the Philippines’ judicial system was “working correctly”.
Earlier than her father’s departure, Vice President Sara Duterte mentioned he was being “forcibly taken to The Hague”, labelling the switch “oppression and persecution”.
A one-time alliance between President Ferdinand Marcos and the Duterte household has exploded spectacularly for the reason that 2022 presidential election, when Sara Duterte ran as vice chairman on his ticket.
She is at present dealing with a Senate trial on plenty of costs, together with corruption and an alleged assassination plot in opposition to Marcos.
Duterte himself had earlier taken to social media, claiming the Supreme Courtroom would step in and stop his switch.
“What’s the crime that I dedicated? Present to me now the authorized foundation of my being right here,” he mentioned on Instagram stay.
‘Rotting on the cemetery’
At a church within the capital Manila, individuals whose relations had been killed within the “drug conflict” welcomed the arrest.
“Duterte is lucky, there’s due course of for him,” Emily Soriano mentioned of her son Angelito, at a press briefing organised by an area rights group.
“There was no due course of for my son. He will probably be mendacity down on a superb mattress, my son is already rotting on the cemetery.”
For Bryony Lau, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, Duterte’s arrest marked “a essential step for accountability within the Philippines.”
China, nevertheless, warned the ICC in opposition to “politicisation” and “double requirements” within the Duterte case, saying it was “intently monitoring” it.
The high-profile case got here with the ICC at present underneath sanctions from Donald Trump.
The US president is sad on the courtroom issuing an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over alleged crimes dedicated throughout the Gaza conflict.
‘Davao Dying Squad’
The Philippines stop the ICC in 2019 on Duterte’s directions.
However the tribunal claims jurisdiction over killings as much as then, together with ones within the southern metropolis of Davao when Duterte was mayor.
The ICC mentioned in its arrest warrant there have been “cheap grounds to imagine” no less than 19 individuals had been murdered in Davao by members of the “Davao Dying Squad”, headed by Duterte.
Moreover, no less than 24 had been killed by Philippines police in varied areas, judges imagine.
On Sunday, Duterte lashed out on the ICC probe, labelling ICC investigators “sons of whores” whereas saying he would “settle for” an arrest.
Duterte remains to be vastly widespread amongst many who supported his quick-fix options to crime, and he stays a potent political power.
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