Legal tangles surround Duterte's arrest

Former president of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte has been arrested in Manila on Tuesday, and preparations are under- way to fly him to The Hague, where the International Criminal Court (ICC) is, to face trial for extra-judicial killings of thousands of people accused of being drug-peddlers and drug-users, during his term in office between 2016 and 2022.

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Duterte's lawyers had filed an appeal before the country's Supreme Court to stop the arrest. Duterte's lawyesr are arguing that the ICC had no jurisdiction over the Philippines because the Philippines had withdrawn from the Treaty of Rome which had set up the court, in 2018.

The withdrawal came when the ICC started investigating the allegations against Duterte. The ICC's assertion is that it has jurisdiction over the Philippines for the period when it was a member of the treaty. The court was set up in 2002. Many of the big countries like the United States, China are not members of the ICC and therefore do not come under the purview of its jurisdiction. The Supreme Court is to set a date for hearing even as Duterte is under custody.

Duterte has been quite defiant about his ruthless campaign against the drug menace in the country. He was pursuing a zero tolerance policy even when he was a prosecutor and mayor of Manila, and continued to do so during his presidency.