Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was arrested at Manila International Airport after arriving from Hong Kong. He has an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC).
This is reported by the German international news service Tagesschau.
Rodrigo Duterte has been arrested on suspicion of crimes against humanity. The ICC is investigating the multiple killings of drug suspects by Philippine police during Duterteʼs tenure. Although the Philippines withdrew from ICC in 2019, the court still has jurisdiction there over alleged crimes committed while the Philippines was a member of the court.
The Philippines did not join the International Criminal Court when Ferdinand Marcos Jr. became president in 2022. But Marcos said Philippine law enforcement agencies were ready to cooperate fully if ICC tried to detain Duterte.
Duterte came to power in the Philippines in 2016. During his presidency, he has repeatedly threatened direct retaliation against his opponents or those he considers criminals. He is remembered for his unprecedented campaign against drug trafficking, which has allowed police to carry out extrajudicial killings. The war on drugs from 2016 to 2019 has claimed thousands of lives.
Duterte also publicly called Barack Obama and God “sons of a bitch”. He also fought the coronavirus with an “iron fist”. He ordered the police to shoot quarantine violators and demanded that the unvaccinated be put in prison.
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