Former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, 79, was arrested this week after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a secret warrant accusing him of crimes against humanity over his tough approach to fighting the drug trade.
Duterte was arrested by the Philippine National Police as he arrived back in Manila after a trip to Hong Kong.
The controversial court, based in The Hague, opened the investigation in 2018 amid his brutal campaign of killing those involved in the trafficking of drugs, The New York Times reported.
Estimates have said that up to 30,000 people were killed during the campaign. Human rights groups allege that many who died were not involved in the drug trade.
After the investigation was announced, Duterte said that his country would withdraw its membership from the ICC, and the following year, it did.
Duterte’s attorney says that the arrest is illegal because the ICC no longer has jurisdiction since the country left the Rome Statute, a treaty from which the ICC draws its authority.
Legal experts said that the case would be complex for a variety of issues, including extradition.
Flightradar24, a flight tracking service, reported on Tuesday that a flight believed to be carrying Duterte was “being flown to the Netherlands via Dubai.”
The Times reported that the country’s current president, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., had previously pledged to protect Duterte, an alliance that helped him win the presidency with Duterte’s daughter, Sara Duterte, serving as his vice president.
The alliance fractured after she was impeached over allegations of corruption and subsequently threatened the president.
Sara Duterte said in a statement that he was “forcibly taken to The Hague.”
“This is not justice — this is oppression and persecution,” she said.
His other daughter, Veronica Duterte, said that they were forcing him to travel “without considering his health conditions.”
