The former Filipino president, Rodrigo Duterte, will appear in the Hague Court Chamber to face charges of ‘War on Drugs’

The Hague, the Netherlands – former President Filipino Rodrigo Duterte is scheduled to make his first appearance before the judges of the International Criminal Court On Friday, days after his impressive arrest in Manila for murder positions linked to the mortal ” War on drugs “Supervised while I was in office.

Duterte, 79, the first former Asian leader arrested by a Order of the ICC, will be read his rights and formally informed about the charges of crimes against humanity that the prosecutors of the court presented against him after a long investigation.

Estimates of the death toll during the presidential term of Duterte vary, from the more than 6,000 that the National Police has reported to the 30,000 claimed by human rights groups.

The court will also seek to establish a date for a key hearing prior to the trial, probably months, in which the judges will evaluate if there are enough evidence to proceed to a complete trial, which could take years. If Duterte is convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

Duterte was arrested on Tuesday in the middle chaotic scenes in the Filipina capital after returning from a visit to Hong Kong. He was quickly placed in a rented and flown jet to the Netherlands. After a series of medical controls upon arrival, he was taken to the Court’s Detention Center, located behind the high brick walls of a Dutch penitentiary complex near the North Sea coast.

Prosecutors accuse him of participation as an “indirect coperperator” in multiple murders, equivalent to a crime against humanity for allegedly supervising the murders from November 2011 to March 2019, first while he was mayor of the southern city of Davao and later as president of the Philippines.

Duterte should not formally enter a supplication at Friday’s audience.

According to the request of the Arresto Prosecutor’s Office, since the mayor of Davao Duterte issued orders to the police and other “success” that formed the so -called “Davao death squads” or DDS.

He told them that “that his mission was to kill criminals, including drug traffickers, and provided authorization for murder for specific DDS,” prosecutors alleged, adding that he recruited, paid and rewarded the murderers and “provided them with the necessary weapons and resources, and promised to protect them from prosecution.”

The document that seeks a Order of the CPI for Duterte said that prosecutors built their case using evidence that includes testimony of witnesses, speeches of the Duterte itself, government documents and video.

The human rights groups and the families of the victims have acclaimed the arrest of Duterte as a historical triumph against the impunity of the State, while the supporters of the former president have criticized what they call the government’s surrender of a rival to a court whose jurisdiction disputes.

“We are happy and we are relieved,” said Melinda Abion Lafuente, 55, mother of Angelo Lafuente, 22, who, according to her, was tortured and killed in 2016.

“The appearance of Duterte before the ICC is a testimony of the courage and the determination of the victims, their families and the Philippine and journalists activists to follow justice regardless of how long it takes,” said Bryony Lau, deputy director of Asia, director of Rights Human Rights Watch. “Other leaders of ICC, such as Vladimir Putin and Benjamin Netanyahu, should take note of those who are inuicious to those who are inuicious of the ICC. Hague.”

Duterte’s legal team said that the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. should not have allowed the global court to take the custody of the former leader because the Philippines is no longer part of the ICC.

“Our own government has given a Filipino citizen, even a former president in that, to foreign powers,” Vice President Sara Duterte, the former president’s daughter and a political rival of the current president, said Tuesday before her father was fly as Manila.

The judges who approved the arrest warrant of Duterte said that the Court has jurisdiction because the crimes alleged in the order were committed before Duterte retired Philippines from the Court in 2019.

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Joe Gómez, Joeal Calupitan and Aaron Favila in Manila contributed to this report.