Former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte is expected to appear before the International Criminal Court on Friday, days after he was dramatically arrested in connection with the “war on drugs” that defined his presidency.
The Hague court said in a statement on Thursday it “considers it appropriate for the first appearance of Mr Duterte to take place” at 1pm GMT on Friday.
Mr Duterte, 79, who led the Philippines from 2016 to 2022, will be informed at the first hearing of the crimes he is accused of as well as of his rights as a defendant.
He is the first Asian former head of state to go on trial at the ICC.
His arrest marks the biggest step yet in the ICC’s investigation into alleged crimes against humanity that took place during Mr Duterte’s anti-drug crackdown, which killed thousands in the Southeast Asian country and drew condemnation around the world.
It’s alleged that Mr Duterte’s government oversaw the execution of around 4,000 people during the anti-drug campaign.
Most of those killed were poor Filipinos living in urban areas. Human rights groups have claimed that the real number of dead could be far higher.
Mr Duterte appeared calm upon landing in The Hague and appeared to accept responsibility for his actions. “I have been telling the police, the military, that it was my job, and I am responsible,” he said in a Facebook video.
The former leader was arrested at Manila’s Ninoy Aquino airport on Tuesday shortly after arriving with his common-law wife, daughter and friends from Hong Kong.
Police said Mr Duterte, his family, lawyers, and friends resisted the arrest. “It was very tense,” police major general Nicolas Torre told the Associated Press news agency.
A police officer sustained a head injury after being hit with a cellphone by Mr Duterte's common-law wife, Mr Torre added, “and his daughter was cursing me with expletives, but I kept my cool”.
“We wanted to have him fingerprinted but he resisted,” Mr Torre claimed, adding that he detained the executive secretary of the former president for blocking his transfer to the plane, which had been prepared to take him to the Netherlands.
“You have to kill me to bring me to The Hague,” Mr Torre quoted the former president as declaring during the standoff at the airport.
Mr Duterte’s lawyers claimed that Philippine authorities did not show them a copy of the ICC arrest warrant, and that they violated his constitutional rights.
“Our own government has surrendered a Filipino citizen, even a former president at that, to foreign powers,” vice president Sara Duterte, the former president’s daughter, said after his arrest.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr claimed that his administration “did not help the International Criminal Court in any way”.
“The arrest was made in compliance with Interpol,” he told a press conference.
“The plane is en route to The Hague, in the Netherlands, allowing the former president to face charges of crimes against humanity in relation to his bloody war on drugs.”
The arrest came after a bitter falling out between the Duterte and Marcos families who came together as running mates in the 2022 election.
The war on drugs was Mr Duterte’s signature campaign platform that swept him to power and the crimebuster nicknamed “the punisher” soon delivered on pledges he made during vitriolic speeches that thousands of drug pushers would be killed.
His detention followed years of him rebuking and taunting the ICC in profanity-laden speeches since he unilaterally withdrew the Philippines from the court’s founding treaty in 2019 as it started looking into allegations of systematic murders of drug dealers on his watch.
The ICC launched an investigation against Mr Duterte in 2011 when he was still mayor of the southern Davao city. After he was elected president, Mr Duterte withdrew from the Rome Statute, which established the ICC, prompting critics to accuse him of attempting to evade accountability.
Mr Duterte’s administration sought to halt the ICC investigation in 2021, claiming Philippine authorities were handling the matter. However, the ICC ruled in 2023 that the investigation could proceed, rejecting Mr Duterte’s objections.
The ICC, a court of last resort, argues that it has jurisdiction to investigate alleged crimes that took place while a nation was a member.
The Hague court intervenes when nations fail to prosecute serious crimes such as genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
President Marcos decided not to rejoin the global court when he succeeded Mr Duterte in 2022.
His administration, however, said it would cooperate if the ICC asked Interpol to take Mr Duterte into custody under a Red Notice, a request for law enforcement agencies worldwide to find and temporarily arrest a criminal suspect.
“My clients are very thankful to God because their prayers have been answered. The arrest of Rodrigo Duterte is a great signal for international criminal justice. It means that no one is above the law,” Gilbert Andres, a lawyer for victims of the drug war, told AFP news agency.
“Many say that international law is not as strong as we want, and I agree with that. But as I also repeatedly emphasise, international law is not as weak as some may think,” ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan said in a statement following Mr Duterte’s arrival in The Hague. “When we come together, when we build partnerships, the rule of law can prevail. Warrants can be executed.”
According to ICC rules, a suspect may request interim release pending a trial at the first hearing. After this, the next stage is to confirm the charges, at which point a suspect can challenge the prosecutor’s evidence.
It is only after this hearing that the court will decide whether to go ahead with a trial, which could take place over months or even years.
“It’s important to underline, as we now start a new stage of proceedings, that Mr Duterte is presumed innocent” the chief prosecutor said.
Additional inputs from agencies.
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