The ICC accuses the former head of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte with murder

Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was accused of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The 80-year-old man is accused of being criminally responsible for dozens of murders who would have taken place as part of his so-called drug war, during which thousands of small drug traffickers, users and others were killed without trial.

The ICC accusation sheet, which includes several editors, dates from July but was not made public until Monday.

The deputy prosecutor of the ICC, Mame Mandiaye Niang, said that Duterte was an “indirect co-perpetrator” in the killings, which alleges that the court was led by others, including the police.

The first accusation against Mr. Duterte concerns his alleged involvement in the killings of 19 people in Davao City between 2013 and 2016 when he was mayor.

The other two accusations concern the moments when he was president of the Philippines, between 2016 and 2022, and launched his so-called war against drugs.

The second accusation chief concerns the murders of 14 “high -value targets” across the country, while the third relates to the murder and attempted the murder of 45 people in the village release operations.

The prosecutors referred to the way in which Mr. Duterte and his alleged co-perpetrators “shared a common plan or agreement to” neutralize “alleged criminals in the Philippines (including those perceived or claims to be associated with drug use, sale or production) by violent crimes, including murder”.

He has not made any excuse for his brutal anti -drug repression, which saw more than 6,000 people killed – although activists think that the real figure could appear at tens of thousands.

Duterte said he had repressed drug traffickers to get rid of street crimes.

Rodrigo Duterte is the first former Asian Head of State to be charged by the ICC – and the first suspect to be transported to The Hague in the Netherlands – where the court is based – in more than three years. He has been in detention since March.

His lawyer said Mr. Duterte was unable to undergo his lawsuit due to poor health.

In May, the former president was again elected mayor of Davao, although he was in prison. His son Sebastian (who had been mayor since 2022), continued as an acting mayor in place of his father.

The supporters of Mr. Duterte allegedly alleged that the ICC was used as a political tool of the country’s current president, Ferdinand Marcos, who was published publicly with the powerful Duterte family.

The ICC has no power to stop people without the cooperation of the countries in which they are, which is most often refused – and Marcos had previously rejected the idea of ​​cooperating with the ICC.