Philippines' ex-president Rodrigo Duterte en route to The Hague to face crimes against humanity charges
ICC confirms warrant for arrest on suspected crimes against humanity
Philippine officials say arrested former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte has left Manila on a plane and he will be turned over to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. A plane carrying Duterte left Manila late Tuesday.
Duterte was arrested after arriving with his family from Hong Kong at the Manila international airport Tuesday morning on a warrant from the ICC.
The ICC has said it would pursue an investigation of suspected crimes against humanity related to Duterte's role in overseeing a bloody "war on drugs" that killed thousands of Filipinos.
Walking slowly with a cane, the 79-year-old former president turned briefly to a small group of aides and supporters, who wept as they bid him goodbye, before he was helped by an escort up the stairs into the plane.
Duterte had said on Monday in Hong Kong that he was ready to be arrested 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-defence.
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.
Kristina Conti, a lawyer representing some victims' families, said it was hard for some of her clients to believe the day would actually come where the former president would face arrest.
"There were some who did not believe it at all," Conti told CBC Radio's As It Happens.
The firebrand Duterte unilaterally withdrew 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 co-operate with the ICC investigation.
The "war on drugs" was the signature campaign policy that swept 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 drug users in the country's slums, 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.
With files from Reuters and CBC Radio's As It Happens