Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was arrested in Manila and sent to The Hague before being taken to the International Criminal Court (ICC) detention center. His supporters gathered outside the center on Wednesday night, waving national flags and chanting slogans demanding his extradition. At that time, a car was speeding out of the iron gate of the detention center. It is believed that Duterte was in the car.
Shortly before stepping off a plane in The Hague, the Netherlands, Duterte, 79, defended his bloody “war on drugs” in a war that the ICC says has “reasonable grounds” to charge him with crimes against humanity.
During his time as a municipal mayor in the Philippines and later after being elected president of the country, Duterte’s “war on drugs” resulted in short-term drug dealers, drug users, and many others being extrajudicially killed.
The official death toll is around 6,000, although human rights activists believe the actual number is in the thousands.
Duterte said he launched the campaign against drug dealers to eliminate crime from the country’s streets.
However, human rights groups allege that the police have misused the campaign, targeting the city’s poor youth.