Police say Duterte resisted fingerprinting during arrest

Police provide details of the 9-hour standoff at a Philippine air base before he and other officers managed to bring the ex-president to The Haque

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Ex-Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte threatened a police general with lawsuits, refused to be fingerprinted and told law enforcers “you have to kill me to bring me to The Hague” in a tense confrontation after his arrest in Manila that was ordered by the International Criminal Court (ICC), a Philippine police general said on Thursday.

Police Major General Nicolas Torre provided details for the first time of Tuesday’s 12-hour standoff at a Philippine air base before he and other police officers managed to bring the 79-year-old former leader onto a government-chartered jet that took him to The Hague, Netherlands, where he was detained by the global court on charges of crimes against humanity.

Duterte was once feared for his brutal anti-crime crackdowns and reviled for his irreverence while in office - he called Pope Francis a "son of a b***h” at one time and said that US President Barack Obama could “go to hell.”

Duterte’s stunning reversal of fortune was celebrated by human rights groups as a historic triumph against state impunity everywhere.

Duterte was arrested on Tuesday after he arrived at Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport with his common-law wife, daughter and friends from Hong Kong.