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Judges at the International Criminal Court on Thursday confirmed all three counts of murder as crimes against humanity against former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte and committed him to trial.
The judges at the Hague said there were “substantial grounds” to believe Duterte, 81, played a key role in the murders of 76 people and the attempted murder of two others as part of his so-called “war on drugs,” which prosecutors say killed thousands of civilians in the Philippines.
“The available evidentiary material shows the existence of a common plan between Mr. Duterte and his co-perpetrators to kill alleged criminals in the Philippines, including those perceived or alleged to be associated with drug use, sale or production, through violent crimes including murder,” the court said.
In the Philippines, the office of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. issued a statement to say that it respected the ruling and justice must be served.
“Both sides stand to benefit from this. Justice for the accused if he is innocent, or justice for the victims if their rights were indeed abused,” the statement said.
Prosecutors have said Duterte created, funded and armed death squads to target and kill suspected narcotics peddlers and users when he was in power between 2016 and 2022.
Duterte has long insisted he instructed police to kill only in self-defence and has always defended the crackdown. He also once scoffed at the prospect of being tried outside of a “Philippine court.”
CBC news senior correspondent Adrienne Arsenault reports from Manila on the horrors of President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs. She also speaks to jailed Philippine Senator Leila de Lima, a vocal critic of Duterte.
is a vocal critic of the country’s strongman president.
Appeals judges at the court on Wednesday had dismissed a bid to throw out Duterte’s trial and said the court had jurisdiction over the case.
In previous cases, it has taken the ICC up to a year between the confirmation of charges and the start of a trial.
Lawyers for the octogenarian former president have also tried to argue that Duterte was unfit to stand trial because of alleged cognitive decline.
That argument also failed, and the ICC has never found a suspect unfit for trial despite several other defendants’ petitions.