Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was arrested by police at Manila's international airport Tuesday on order of the International Criminal Court in connection with a case of crimes against humanity filed against him, the Philippine government said. Duterte was arrested after arriving from Hong Kong and police took him into custody on orders of the ICC, which has been investigating the massive killings that happened under the former president's deadly crackdown against illegal drugs, President Ferdinand Marcos' office said in a statement. The Manila office of the International Police received an official copy of the arrest warrant from the global court and the notice for an arrest warrant was served to the former president, the AP reports, citing the Philippine government.
It was not immediately clear where Duterte was taken by the police. The government said the 79-year-old former leader was in good health and was examined by government doctors. "He's now in the custody of authorities," the government said. The ICC began investigating drug killings under Duterte from Nov. 1, 2011, when he was still mayor of the southern city of Davao, to March 16, 2019, as possible crimes against humanity. Duterte withdrew the Philippines in 2019 from the Rome Statute in a move human rights activists say was aimed at escaping accountability.
The Duterte administration moved to suspend the global court's investigation in late 2021 by arguing that Philippine authorities were already looking into the same allegations, arguing the ICC—a court of last resort—didn't have jurisdiction. Appeals judges at the ICC ruled in 2023 the investigation could resume and rejected the Duterte administration's objections. Based in The Hague, the Netherlands, the ICC can step in when countries are unwilling or unable to prosecute suspects in the most heinous international crimes, including genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
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