Manila [Philippine], March 11 : Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was arrested on Tuesday in Manila on an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant for alleged crimes against humanity related to his war on drugs, authorities said.
In a statement, the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said the arrest warrant was received by the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) Manila from the ICC early today, as per the Philippine News Agency (PNA).
The media outlet said that Duterte arrived in the Philippines via Cathay Pacific flight CX 907 from Hong Kong at 9:20 am and the Prosecutor General presented the official ICC notification confirming the arrest warrant for Duterte.
Duterte had returned to Manila after delivering a fiery speech to the city's Filipino diaspora at a campaign rally on Sunday, CNN reported adding that the ex-leader had lashed out at the ICC probe.
The 79-year-old Duterte faces a charge of "the crime against humanity of murder," the ICC said, citing the deaths of tens of thousands of people killed by police and vigilantes without proof they were involved in drugs.
Duterte's brutal anti-drugs crackdown, which occurred when he was president of Phillippines from 2016 to 2022.
The so-called "war on drugs", deprived suspects of "due process under the law" and resulted in the deaths of thousands of people, including children, according to the complaint cited by news outlet Al Jazeera.
Duterte, however, questioned the legality of his arrest on Tuesday as reported by Al Jazeera.
"What is the law and what is the crime that I committed," Duterte said in a video uploaded on social media by his daughter, Veronica Duterte.
"Explain to me now the legal basis for my being here as apparently I was brought here not of my own volition. It's somebody else's," he added.
Meanwhile as per the PNA report, the Philippine National Police officers who enforced the warrant on Tuesday were also equipped with body cameras to ensure transparency throughout the operation.
The Philippines government earlier said it would not cooperate with the ICC investigation against Duterte. However, it noted that the country will be obliged to act in its obligations to the Interpol.
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