THE HAGUE: Rodrigo Duterte\u2019s first appearance at the International Criminal Court has been set for Friday, the court said, as the former Philippines president faces crimes against humanity charges over his deadly war on drugs.
\n\u201cThe Chamber considers it appropriate for the first appearance of Mr.Duterte to take place on Friday, 14 March 2025 at 14:00 hours (1300 GMT),\u201d the court said in a statement late on Thursday.
\nThe 79-year-old will appear before judges for a hearing where he will be informed of the crimes he is alleged to have committed, as well as his rights as a defendant.
\nDuterte stands accused of the crime against humanity of murder over his years-long campaign against drug users and dealers that rights groups said killed tens of thousands of people.
\nAs he landed in The Hague, the former leader appeared to accept responsibility for his actions, saying in a Facebook video: \u201cI have been telling the police, the military, that it was my job and I am responsible.\u201d
\nDuterte\u2019s stunning arrest in Manila came amid a spectacular meltdown in relations between his family and the Marcos family, who had previously joined forces to run the Philippines.
\nCurrent President Ferdinand Marcos and Vice President Sara Duterte \u2014 Rodrigo\u2019s daughter \u2014 are at loggerheads, with the latter facing an impeachment trial over charges including an alleged assassination plot against Marcos.
\nSara Duterte is in The Netherlands to support her father, after labelling his arrest \u201coppression and persecution,\u201d with the Duterte family having sought an emergency injunction from the Supreme Court to stop his transfer.
\nBut victims of the \u201cwar on drugs\u201d hope that Duterte will finally face justice for his alleged crimes.
\nGilbert Andres, a lawyer representing victims of the drug war, told AFP: \u201cMy clients are very thankful to God because their prayers have been answered.\u201d
\n\u201cThe arrest of Rodrigo Duterte is a great signal for international criminal justice. It means that no one is above the law,\u201d Andres added.
\nThe high-profile Duterte case also comes at a critical moment for the ICC, as it faces unprecedented pressure from all sides, including US sanctions.
\nLast month, US President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on the court over what he said were \u201cillegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel.\u201d
\nThe ICC has issued an arrest warrant for Israel\u2019s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Gaza war.
\nChief Prosecutor Karim Khan hailed Duterte\u2019s arrest as a key moment for victims and international justice as a whole.
\n\u201cMany say that international law is not as strong as we want, and I agree with that. But as I also repeatedly emphasize, international law is not as weak as some may think,\u201d Khan said in a statement following Duterte\u2019s arrival in ICC custody.
\n\u201cWhen we come together… when we build partnerships, the rule of law can prevail. Warrants can be executed,\u201d he said.
\nAt the initial hearing, a suspect can request interim release pending a trial, according to ICC rules.
\nFollowing that first hearing, the next phase is a session to confirm the charges, at which point a suspect can challenge the prosecutor\u2019s evidence.
\nOnly after that hearing will the court decide whether to press ahead with a trial, a process that could take several months or even years.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s important to underline, as we now start a new stage of proceedings, that Mr. Duterte is presumed innocent,\u201d said Khan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
THE HAGUE: Rodrigo Duterte\u2019s first appearance at the International Criminal Court has been set for Friday, the court said, as the former Philippines president faces crimes against humanity charges over his deadly war on drugs. \u201cThe Chamber considers it appropriate for the first appearance of Mr.Duterte to take place on Friday, 14 March 2025 at …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":78388,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-78374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78374"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78374\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78389,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78374\/revisions\/78389"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78388"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}