Former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has arrived in the Netherlands and has been surrendered to the custody of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on allegations of crimes against humanity over his deadly “war on drugs”.
Duterte was arrested on Tuesday in the Philippine capital, Manila, after returning from a trip to Hong Kong, and placed on a plane to Rotterdam by police.
In a statement on Wednesday, the ICC said Duterte, 79, had been “arrested by the authorities of the Republic of the Philippines in accordance with an arrest warrant issued by Pre-Trial Chamber I for charges of murder as a crime against humanity”.
He will be brought before an ICC judge in The Hague in the coming days for an initial appearance, the statement said. He was transferred to a detention unit on the Dutch coast.
The ICC’s warrant for his arrest stated that as president, Duterte created, funded and armed death squads that took part in the murders of alleged drug users and dealers.
He could become the first Asian former head of state to go on trial in The Hague.
Outside the ICC building in The Hague, anti-Duterte protesters hailed his arrest and held banners that read, “We demand justice and accountability, Rodrigo Duterte is a war criminal!”
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