Former President arrested for crimes committed while in office
Former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte was arrested Tuesday in Manila by police acting on an International Criminal Court warrant tied to his deadly war on drugs.
The 79-year-old faces a charge of “the crime against humanity of murder”, according to the ICC, for a crackdown that rights groups estimate killed tens of thousands of mostly poor men, often without proof they were linked to drugs.
“Early in the morning, Interpol Manila received the official copy of the warrant of the arrest from the ICC,” the presidential palace said in a statement.
“As of now, he is under the custody of authorities.”
The statement added that “the former president and his group are in good health and are being checked by government doctors”.
But Duterte demanded to know the basis of his arrest in a video posted to his youngest daughter Veronica’s Instagram account following his detention.
“So what is the law and what is the crime that I committed? Show to me now the legal basis of my being here,” he said in the video.
“I was brought here not of my own volition but somebody else’s … you have to answer now for the deprivation of liberty.”
While no location was given for the video, a photo released by his political party said he was being held at the Villamor Air Base next to Manila airport.
Duterte’s former chief legal counsel, Salvador Panelo, called the arrest “unlawful”.
“The (Philippine National Police) didn’t allow one of his lawyers to meet him at the airport and to question the legal basis for PRRD’s arrest,” he said, adding a hard copy of the ICC warrant had not been provided.
