Philippines’ ex-President Duterte arrested at ICC’s request over ‘drugs war’, government says
MANILA听–听贵辞谤尘别谤听Philippine President聽Rodrigo Duterte was served an Interpol arrest聽warrant from the International Criminal Court on his arrival at聽Manila’s main airport聽on Tuesday, the government said.
The ICC has said it would pursue an investigation of suspected crimes against humanity related to Duterte’s聽role in overseeing a bloody “war on drugs” that killed thousands of Filipinos.
Mr. Duterte had said聽on Monday in Hong Kong that聽 if the ICC issued a warrant and has repeatedly defended the anti-drugs crackdown. He has denied ordering police to kill drug suspects unless in self-defense.
The office of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said it received an official copy of the warrant, which was served聽on Mr.聽Duterte by police. Mr. Duterte was now in custody, it said in a statement.
Mr. Duterte’s former legal counsel Salvador Panelo said the arrest was unlawful, and said the police did not allow one of his lawyers to meet Duterte at the airport.
Mr. Duterte 聽the Philippines from the ICC’s founding treaty in 2019 when it started looking into allegations of systematic extrajudicial killings, and the Philippines had until last year refused to cooperate with the ICC聽.
The “” was the signature campaign policy that swept Mr. Duterte to power in 2016 as a maverick, crime-busting mayor, who delivered on promises he made during vitriolic speeches to kill thousands of narcotics dealers.
According to police, 6,200 suspects were killed during anti-drug operations that they say ended in shootouts. But activists say the real toll of the crackdown was far greater, with thousands of slumland drug users, many of whom were included on official “watch lists”, killed in mysterious circumstances.
Police deny involvement in those killings and reject allegations from rights groups of systematic executions and cover-ups. – Reuters
