Former Philippine president arrested on charges of crimes against humanity

The Philippine police have detained the country's former president Rodrigo Duterte, who led the country from June 2016 to June 2022, Bloomberg reports. The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for him, accusing him of crimes against humanity - according to human rights activists, tens of thousands of Filipinos were executed during Duterte's fight against drug trafficking.

Duterte was detained at the Manila airport shortly after arriving from Hong Kong, and is currently in custody.

Lawyer Salvador Panelo called the arrest illegal, recalling that the Philippines withdrew from the ICC in 2019 at Duterte's direction. The court said it has jurisdiction over crimes committed before that point - from November 1, 2011 to March 16, 2019 inclusive.