LIVE: Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte Appears Before The ICC | Duterte Latest News |N18G
Live shot of The Hague ahead of Philippines’ ex-president Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s initial appearance before the Pre-Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Court.
Former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte is scheduled to make his first appearance before judges of the international criminal court at 1pm GMT, days after his arrest in Manila on murder charges linked to the deadly ‘war on drugs’ he oversaw while in office.
The 79-year-old Duterte, the first Asian former leader arrested on an ICC warrant, will be read his rights and formally informed of the charges of crimes against humanity that the court’s prosecutors filed against him after a lengthy investigation, AP reported.
Soon after his election in 2016, Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte launched his so-called “war on drugs”, a bloody campaign in which as many as 30,000 civilians were killed.
Most of the victims were men from poor, urban areas, who were gunned down in the streets or their homes by police, or in some cases, unidentified assailants.
The authorities routinely claimed police had killed in self-defence. However, groups documenting the killings have challenged this claim, alleging the police regularly falsified evidence, including by planting drugs and guns at the scene.
Witnesses frequently stated that victims were unarmed and did not pose a threat. The type of wounds sustained by victims also contradicted police claims: many were shot multiple times, and in some cases in their backs or the back of their heads.
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