Rodrigo Duterte to make first look at ICC listening to within the Hague | Rodrigo Duterte

Rodrigo Duterte is anticipated to make his first look on the worldwide prison court docket (ICC) on Friday, as the previous Philippines president faces crimes towards humanity prices over his lethal “conflict on medicine”.

The court docket mentioned in an announcement late on Thursday that it “considers it applicable” for Duterte to seem Friday at 2pm native time (1pm GMT).

On the listening to, the 79-year-old can be knowledgeable of the crimes he’s alleged to have dedicated, in addition to his rights as a defendant.

Duterte stands accused of the crime towards humanity of homicide over his years-long marketing campaign towards drug customers and sellers that rights teams mentioned killed tens of 1000’s of individuals.

As he landed in The Hague, the previous chief was calm when he appeared to simply accept accountability for his actions, saying in a Fb video: “I’ve been telling the police, the navy, that it was my job and I’m accountable.”

It stood in sharp distinction to particulars that emerged of a chaotic 12-hour standoff round his arrest on Tuesday in Manila. Duterte threatened a police basic with lawsuits, refused to be fingerprinted and advised regulation enforcers “it’s important to kill me to deliver me to The Hague,” in accordance with police Maj. Gen. Nicolas Torre.

The standoff occurred at a Philippine airbase earlier than he and different cops managed to deliver the previous chief on to a government-chartered jet that took him to the Netherlands.

Torre described the confrontation as “very tense” and mentioned Duterte refused to be fingerprinted.

Duterte’s authorized group challenges his arrest and mentioned that Philippine authorities didn’t present any copy of the ICC warrant and violated his constitutional rights.

The arrest additionally got here amid a breakdown in relations between his household and the Marcos household, who had beforehand joined forces to run the Philippines.

Present president Ferdinand Marcos and vice-president Sara Duterte – Rodrigo’s daughter – are at loggerheads, with the latter going through an impeachment trial over prices together with an alleged assassination plot towards Marcos.

Sara Duterte is within the Netherlands to assist her father, after labelling his arrest “oppression and persecution”, with the Duterte household having sought an emergency injunction from the supreme court docket to cease his switch.

However victims of the “conflict on medicine” hope that Duterte will lastly face justice for his alleged crimes.

The high-profile Duterte case comes at a vital second for the ICC, because it faces unprecedented stress from all sides, together with US sanctions.

In February, US President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on the court docket over what he mentioned had been “illegitimate and baseless actions concentrating on America and our shut ally Israel.”

The ICC has issued an arrest warrant for Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant for alleged conflict crimes and crimes towards humanity throughout the Gaza conflict.

Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan hailed Duterte’s arrest as a key second for victims and worldwide justice as an entire.

“Many say that worldwide regulation isn’t as sturdy as we would like, and I agree with that. However as I additionally repeatedly emphasise, worldwide regulation isn’t as weak as some might imagine,” Khan mentioned in an announcement following Duterte’s arrival in ICC custody.

“After we come collectively … after we construct partnerships, the rule of regulation can prevail. Warrants might be executed,” he mentioned.

On the preliminary listening to, a suspect can request interim launch pending a trial, in accordance with ICC guidelines. Following that first listening to, the subsequent part is a session to verify the fees, at which level a suspect can problem the prosecutor’s proof.

Solely after that listening to will the court docket resolve whether or not to press forward with a trial, a course of that would take a number of months and even years.

“It’s vital to underline, as we now begin a brand new stage of proceedings, that Mr Duterte is presumed harmless,” mentioned Khan.

With Related Press and Agence France-Presse