'You will have to kill me': Ex-Philippine president engaged in 12-hour standoff before heading to ICC

Former President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte , got involved in a 12-hour standoff with the country’s police, saying, “You will have to kill me to bring me to The Hague”. The whole saga played out shortly after he was arrested under the order of the International Criminal Court.

A Philippine police general said that the 79-year-old refused to have his fingerprints taken after the arrest and even threatened Police Major General Nicolas Torre with lawsuits, Sky News reported. The whole tussle unfolded before the former president was bundled onto a government-chartered jet at a Philippine air base and was taken to The Hague in the Netherlands.

Duterte has been detained by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of crimes against humanity . He was being investigated over his alleged involvement in extrajudicial killings during his war on drugs. He is currently placed at a court’s detention centre near the Dutch North Sea coast after he underwent medical checks.

Duterte to make his first appearance at ICC

Duterte will be making his first appearance at the ICC on Friday. During his time in office, Duterte ran a brutal anti-crime crackdown and made several colourful outbursts, calling Pope Francis a “son of a bi**h”. He also garnered backlash for saying US President Barack Obama could “go to hell”.

His arrests have divided the opinions of human rights groups celebrating, and his supporters, blaming the government for surrendering a “ key political rival ” to a court. The former Philippine premier was arrested on Tuesday after he arrived at Manila’s international airport from Hong Kong with his partner, daughter and friends.

A heavy police guard escorted him to a nearby presidential lounge at a Philippine air base. According to The Associated Press, for 12 hours, Duterte and his family, lawyers and friends blocked him from being placed on a flight to The Hague. “It was very tense,” Maj Gen Torre told the news agency.

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“One of my officers sustained a head injury after being hit hard with a cellphone” by Duterte’s partner “and his daughter was cursing me with expletives, but I kept my cool,” he added. Maj. Gen. Torre noted that the ex-president refused to undergo the police booking procedure. “We wanted to have him fingerprinted, but he resisted,” Maj Gen Torre said.

The Philippine general said that he had to arrest and handcuff the former president’s executive secretary to prevent Duterte from being moved to the plane. Meanwhile, Duterte’s lawyers have alleged that Philippine authorities did not show any copy of the ICC arrest warrant and violated his constitutional rights.

It is pertinent to note that Duterte will be the first Asian former head of state to stand trial at the ICC. The Philippine police said that more than 6,200 people were killed in what they describe as shootouts while he was president from 2016 to 2022. Human rights groups and prosecutors of ICC allege that as many as 30,000 people may have been killed.

With inputs from agencies.