Rodrigo Duterte has turn into the primary Asian former chief to seem earlier than the worldwide prison court docket, the place he stands accused of committing crimes towards humanity throughout his infamous “war on drugs” which is estimated to have killed as many as 30,000 individuals.
The ex-president of the Philippines, who was in workplace from 2016 to 2022, was arrested in Manila on an ICC warrant early on Tuesday, placed on a government-chartered jet hours later, and arrived in The Hague the next day.
The 79-year-old politician was allowed to comply with Friday’s proceedings through video hyperlink from a detention centre after the presiding choose, Iulia Motoc, famous that he had endured “a long journey with considerable time difference”.
Showing earlier than the court docket shortly earlier than 3pm native time, Duterte was knowledgeable of the crimes he’s alleged to have dedicated, in addition to his rights as a defendant. Sounding frail and carrying a blue go well with and tie, he spoke briefly to substantiate his identify and date of delivery.
Duterte’s lawyer, Salvador Medialdea, advised the court docket that his shopper had been “abducted from his country”, including: “He was summarily transported to The Hague. To lawyers it’s extrajudicial rendition. For less legal minds it’s pure and simple kidnapping.”
Medialdea stated Duterte could be unable to contribute to the proceedings due to what he termed his shopper’s “debilitating medical issues”. However Motoc stated the court docket physician who had examined Duterte was of the opinion that he was “fully mentally aware and fit”.
The choose set a pre-trial listening to date of 23 September to ascertain whether or not the prosecution’s proof is robust sufficient to ship the case to trial. If a trial does go forward, it might take years, and if Duterte is convicted, he faces a most sentence of life imprisonment.
Duterte was arrested amid dramatic scenes three days in the past. Regardless of threatening a police normal with lawsuits, refusing to be fingerprinted and telling officers “you have to kill me to bring me to The Hague”, he finally boarded the aircraft that arrived within the Netherlands on Wednesday.
As he landed in The Hague, the previous chief was calm and appeared to simply accept accountability for his actions, saying in a Fb video: “I have been telling the police, the military, that it was my job and I am responsible.”
His arrest got here amid a spectacular breakdown in relations between his household and the Marcos household, who had beforehand joined forces to run the Philippines.
The present president, Ferdinand Marcos, and the vice-president, Sara Duterte – who’s Rodrigo’s daughter – are at loggerheads, with the latter going through an impeachment trial over costs together with an alleged assassination plot towards Marcos.
Sara Duterte travelled to the Netherlands to assist her father, whose arrest she has described as “oppression and persecution”. The Duterte household had sought an emergency injunction from the supreme court docket to cease his switch.
Talking to supporters and reporters outdoors the court docket on Friday morning, she stated she hoped to go to her father and to have the listening to moved. “We are praying and hoping that the court will grant our request to move the initial appearance just so that we can properly sit down with the former president and discuss the legal strategies since we haven’t talked to him yet,” she advised Agence France-Presse.
Duterte turned president 9 years in the past after promising a cruel, bloody crackdown that might rid the nation of medicine. On the marketing campaign path he as soon as stated there could be so many our bodies dumped in Manila Bay that fish would develop fats from feeding on them. After taking workplace, he publicly said he would kill suspected drug sellers, and urged the general public to kill addicts.
Estimates of the loss of life toll beneath his administration rule differ: the nationwide police put the quantity at 6,000 individuals, whereas human rights teams declare the true determine is 5 occasions larger. Many of the victims had been males in poor, city areas who had been gunned down within the streets.
Whilst his ways provoked worldwide horror, he remained extremely fashionable at residence all through his presidency. Whereas his arrest has been celebrated by rights teams and the households of the victims of the “war on drugs”, it has additionally prompted some protests in his strongholds of Mindanao and the Visayas.
Duterte, who appeared earlier than a senate inquiry into the medicine warfare killings final yr, stated he supplied “no apologies, no excuses” for his insurance policies, saying: “I did what I had to do, and whether you believe it or not, I did it for my country.”
Campaigners and victims of his crackdowns hope that Duterte’s arrest will lastly lead to him going through justice for his alleged crimes.
Rachel Chhoa-Howard, Amnesty Worldwide’s south-east Asia researcher, stated Friday’s listening to proved that nobody was above the regulation.
“The very institution that former President Duterte mocked will now try him for murder as a crime against humanity,” she stated. “This is a symbolic moment and a day of hope for families of victims and human rights defenders who have for years fought tirelessly for justice despite grave risks to their lives and safety.”
The ICC’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, has hailed Duterte’s arrest as a key second for victims and worldwide justice as an entire.
“Many say that international law is not as strong as we want, and I agree with that. But as I also repeatedly emphasise, international law is not as weak as some may think,” Khan stated. “When we come together … when we build partnerships, the rule of law can prevail.”
With Related Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse
