Rodrigo Duterte now in ICC custody—court

Former president Rodrigo Duterte was handed over to the International Criminal Court on Thursday, March 13 (Philippine time), it said, after issuing a warrant for his arrest over his deadly crackdown on drugs.

"Mr. Rodrigo Roa Duterte... was surrendered to the custody of the International Criminal Court," the ICC said in a statement. "He was arrested by the authorities of the Republic of the Philippines in accordance with an arrest warrant issued... for charges of murder as a crime against humanity."

Duterte arrived in the Netherlands at 11:54 p.m. (Philippine time) of Wednesday, March 12, as confirmed by ICC spokesman Fadi El Abdallah.

He was arrested on Tuesday, March 11 and was brought to the Villamor Air Base upon arriving at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport from Hong Kong.

His arrest had been years in the making, beginning in October 2016 when then-ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said they were watching the Philippines closely as killings under the Duterte administration were on the rise just four months since he assumed office. 

As stated in the warrant obtained by The Philippine STAR, Duterte was arrested for murder, torture, and rape—which are part of the 15 forms of crimes against humanity under the Rome Statute—in connection with his administration's bloody war on drugs called Oplan Tokhang that saw the execution of thousands of suspected drug peddlers, users, and small-time criminals.

He left the country at 11:03 p.m. of the same day to go to The Hague, where he would be tried by the ICC. (AFP)