Ex-Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte told officers "you have to kill me to bring me to The Hague" during a 12-hour standoff after he was arrested under the orders of the International Criminal Court, a Philippine police general has said.
The 79-year-old former president refused to have his fingerprints taken and threatened Police Major General Nicolas Torre with lawsuits before he was bundled onto a government-chartered jet at a Philippine air base and taken to The Hague in the Netherlands, Maj Gen Torre told the Associated Press.
Duterte has been detained by the ICC on charges of crimes against humanity over his alleged involvement in extrajudicial killings during his war on drugs.
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Rodrigo Duterte arrest is connected to his deadly "war on drugs" between 2011 and 2019- when he was mayor and then president. 2:25
Why was Duterte arrested?
He is now at the court's detention centre near the Dutch North Sea coast, after undergoing medical checks, an ICC spokesperson said on Thursday.
He will make his first appearance at the ICC on Friday.
As president, Duterte ran brutal anti-crime crackdowns and made several colourful outbursts, calling Pope Francis a "son of a bitch" and saying then US president Barack Obama could "go to hell".
His arrest has divided opinion, with human rights groups celebrating and his supporters blaming the government for what they consider the surrender of a rival to a court whose jurisdiction they dispute.
The plane carrying Rodrigo Duterte landing in the Netherlands. Pic: Reuters
Pic: Reuters
Image: The jet which took Mr Duterte to the Netherlands. Pics: Reuters
Duterte was arrested on Tuesday after he arrived at Manila's international airport from Hong Kong with his partner, daughter and friends.
A heavy police guard took him to a nearby presidential lounge at a Philippine air base, Maj Gen Torre said, where for 12 hours he and his family, lawyers and friends blocked him from being placed on a flight to The Hague.
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"It was very tense," Maj Gen Torre said.
"One of my officers sustained a head injury after being hit hard with a cellphone" by Duterte's partner "and his daughter was cursing me with expletives, but I kept my cool".
Maj Gen Torre said the ex-president, who formerly served as a government prosecutor and congressman, refused to undergo the police booking procedure.
"We wanted to have him fingerprinted, but he resisted," Maj Gen Torre said.
"You have to kill me to bring me to The Hague," he quoted Duterte as saying.
He also said he arrested and handcuffed the former president's executive secretary for preventing Duterte from being moved to the plane.
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Why is the Philippines' war on drugs being investigated? 2:53
Jan 2024: What did Duterte's 'war on drugs' look like?
Duterte's lawyers have alleged that Philippine authorities did not show any copy of the ICC warrant and violated his constitutional rights.
The legal team claimed the current administration, under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, allowed the global court to take custody of Mr Duterte, although the Philippines was no longer party to the ICC.
Duterte will be the first Asian former head of state to stand trial at the ICC.
The ICC case centres on thousands of killings that took place during the former leader's brutal crackdown on illegal drugs from 2011, when he was a city mayor, to the end of his presidency in 2022.
Police say more than 6,200 people were killed in what they describe as shootouts while he was president from 2016 to 2022.
Human rights groups and the prosecutor of the ICC say as many as 30,000 people may have been killed.