\n Lawyers for former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, believed headed for The Hague to face the International Criminal Court over his deadly crackdown on drugs, filed a petition Wednesday demanding his return to Manila.\n<\/p>\n
\n The plane thought to be taking the 79-year-old to the Netherlands resumed its journey after a stopover of several hours in Dubai on Wednesday, according to flight tracking site flightradar24.com.\n<\/p>\n
\n It was not possible to confirm if Duterte was still on the privately owned aircraft, expected to land in Rotterdam around 5:00 pm local time (1600 GMT).\n<\/p>\n
\n Duterte faces a charge of \"the crime against humanity of murder\", according to the ICC, for a crackdown that rights groups estimate killed tens of thousands of mostly poor men, often without proof they were linked to drugs.\n<\/p>\n
\n Earlier Wednesday, lawyers filed a Supreme Court petition -- on behalf of his youngest daughter Veronica -- accusing the government of \"kidnapping\" Duterte and demanding it \"bring him back\".\n<\/p>\n
\n \"The ICC can only exercise its jurisdiction if a country's national legal system is not functioning,\" lawyer Salvador Paolo Panelo Jr. told reporters outside the court, insisting the Philippines' judicial system was \"working properly\".\n<\/p>\n
\n But presidential palace press officer Claire Castro said cooperating with Interpol was the government's prerogative.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"This is not just surrendering a Filipino citizen, this is surrendering a Filipino citizen who is accused of crimes against humanity, specifically murder,\" she said.\n<\/p>\n
\n Speaking to AFP outside the ICC, Gilbert Andres, a lawyer representing victims of the drug war, said: \"My clients are very thankful to God because their prayers have been answered.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n \"They are grateful to see that even someone as powerful as Rodrigo Duterte is being brought to justice,\" Andres added.\n<\/p>\n
\n But others came to show support for Duterte.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"We stand behind President Duterte,\" said Aimee, 28, from Manila, declining to give her last name for security fears. \"What's happening here is unfair and brings tears to my eyes.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n - 'Rotting at the cemetery' -\n<\/p>\n
\n At a church in the capital Manila, people whose family members were killed in the drug war welcomed the former president's arrest.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"Duterte is fortunate, there's due process for him,\" Emily Soriano said of her son Angelito, at a press briefing organised by a local rights group.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"There was no due process for my son. He will be lying down on a good bed, my son is already rotting at the cemetery.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n For Bryony Lau, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, Duterte's arrest marked \"a critical step for accountability in the Philippines.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n China, however, warned the ICC against \"politicisation\" and \"double standards\" in the Duterte case, saying it was \"closely monitoring\" it.\n<\/p>\n
\n The high-profile case is a welcome victory for the ICC, currently under sanctions from Donald Trump.\n<\/p>\n
\n The US president is unhappy at the ICC issuing an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over alleged crimes committed during the war in Gaza.\n<\/p>\n
\n - 'Oppression and persecution' -\n<\/p>\n
\n Before her father's departure, Vice President Sara Duterte said he was being \"forcibly taken to The Hague\", labelling the transfer \"oppression and persecution\".\n<\/p>\n
\n Her office issued a statement Wednesday saying she had flown to Amsterdam, without offering further details.\n<\/p>\n
\n A one-time alliance between Marcos and the Duterte family has exploded spectacularly since the 2022 presidential election, when Sara Duterte ran as vice president on his ticket.\n<\/p>\n
\n The vice president faces a Senate trial on a number of charges, including corruption and an alleged assassination plot against Marcos.\n<\/p>\n
\n Duterte himself had earlier taken to social media, claiming the Supreme Court would step in and prevent his transfer.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"What is the crime that I committed? Show to me now the legal basis of my being here,\" he said on Instagram live.\n<\/p>\n
\n Once in ICC custody, Duterte will be taken to a detention centre before an initial appearance likely to be scheduled in the coming days.\n<\/p>\n
\n The centre, located close to the North Sea coast, offers each prisoner an individual cell equipped with a computer to work on their case, along with an outdoor exercise area.\n<\/p>\n
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Lawyers for former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, believed headed for The Hague to face the International Criminal Court over his deadly crackdown on drugs, filed a petition Wednesday demanding his return to Manila. The plane thought to be taking the 79-year-old to the Netherlands resumed its journey after a stopover of several hours in Dubai […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-142646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n