Former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte Has ICC Hearing

Rodrigo Duterte, who served as Philippine President from 2016 to 2022, appeared for the first time at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague on Friday.

The hearing signifies the start of a lengthy trial over the charges of crimes against humanity lodged against him for leading a brutal anti-drug campaign in his home country that human rights groups in the Philippines say killed more than 30,000.

Duterte, 79, appeared at the hearing via videolink, with Presiding Judge Iulia Motoc citing his “long journey with considerable time difference.” However, his counsel, Salvador Medialdea, was present in the courtroom. Medialdea told the court that Duterte’s delivery to The Hague was “degrading,” and called it “a pure and simple kidnapping.”

The first Asian former head of state to appear before the court, Duterte arrived in The Hague after a swift arrest on March 11 in Manila upon arriving from Hong Kong. Philippine authorities immediately flew Duterte to the Netherlands, and he has stayed in the ICC’s detention unit in the seaside suburb of Scheveningen since his arrival.

Judge Motoc said the confirmation of charges hearing is on Sept. 23.

In a video posted on social media shortly after midnight local time Thursday, while appearing to take responsibility for the police and military who implemented his anti-drug campaign, Duterte also recognized that “this would be a long legal proceedings.”

The ICC has been constantly doubted for its slow trials and low conviction rates—with 11 convictions and four acquittals since its establishment in 2002. But Duterte’s critics, among them people who had family members killed during anti-drug operations, are pleased he is appearing in court.

The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers said in a statement Friday that Duterte’s arrest and surrender is “an incredible illustration of processes [of] how persons suspected of crimes are to be arrested and taken into custody by authorities,” adding that these are processes that “victims of the ‘war on drugs’ have barely enjoyed.”

Duterte’s drug crackdowns in the Philippines saw thousands of summary and extrajudicial killings, with the brutality dating back to 1998, while he was serving as mayor in the southern Philippine city of Davao. In October, during a Senate hearing, the former Philippine President admitted to having his own “death squad” made up of “gangsters,” and that he ordered police officers to “encourage” drug suspects to fight back so officers could justify killing them.

Read More: The Meaning of Rodrigo Duterte’s Arrest

“Duterte is lucky he has due process, but my child who was killed did not have due process,” said Emily Soriano in a press conference in Manila. Soriano’s teenage son, Angelito, was killed in anti-drug operations back in 2016. “He sleeps in a nice bed, while my child is rotting in the cemetery,” she added.

Randy delos Santos, the uncle of Kian delos Santos, a teen who was also shot dead in August 2017 anti-drug operations in Manila resulting in one of the campaign’s most high-profile cases, told local reporters after Duterte’s arrest: “Our former President is fortunate because he is given the chance to defend himself… My nephew was never brought to court. Many accusations were thrown. Then he was killed.”

“Good for [Duterte] that he was just arrested by police, while our relatives were killed on the spot,” said Jane Lee, whose husband was killed by unidentified assailants in 2017.

Outside the ICC on Friday, anti-Duterte protesters expressed support for his detention, with some holding posters that read: “Hold Duterte accountable and bring him to trial!” Pro-Duterte protesters, meanwhile, chanted Duterte’s name, saying, “Bring him home!”