The Filipino ex-President Duterte appears after a video link at the hearing of the International Criminal Court

Dague, Nehlands (AP) – Former Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte imprisoned on Friday by video conference in front of the judges at the International Criminal CourtDays after his arrest in Manila for murder that are connected to the deadly ” War against drugs That he was supervised in the office.

The 79-year-old Duterte did not appear in the Hague in court, but appeared about a mile on a video screen from the internment warehouse in which he is recorded.

For families of victims of drug progress, Dutertes appearance in court was a long-awaited sign of hope. The loud supporters of Duterte call the arrest illegally.

His lawyer Salvador Medialdea used the hearing to condemn his arrest in Manila as “pure and simple kidnapping”. He said that Dutte “had been refused any access to the legal recourse in the country of his citizenship, and all of this in the nature of the political score settling.”

The presiding judge Iulia Antoanella Motoc stated a pre -court hearing date of September 23, to determine whether the evidence of law enforcement is strong enough to put the case in court. If a legal proceedings are going on, it could take years and if Duterte is convicted, he faces a maximum prison sentence.

The estimates of the number of fatalities during the term of office of Duterte's presidency vary from more than 6,000 that the national police testified in accordance with the figures for human rights groups, and up to 30,000.

The ICC judge said Duterte was allowed to participate in his first hearing through video conference because he had just ceded a long flight.

Duterte, who wore a jacket and tie, heard the hearing through headphones, often with eyes closed. He spoke in English to confirm his name and date and place of birth. He didn't have to enter a plea. The hearing, which started about half an hour late, took about 30 minutes.

Medialdea said that Duterte had been observed in a hospital in a hospital for health problems.

The judge who turned with Duterte said: “The forecast was of the opinion that they were mentally aware and fit.”

Duterte's daughter welcomes followers outside of the court

Duterte was arrested in the middle of Tuesday Chaotic scenes Returned in the Filipino capital after a visit to Hong Kong. He was quickly created a charter jet and flown to the Netherlands.

His daughter, the Filipino Vice President Sara Dutert, visited him on Friday in the court center of the court and met him with supporters in front of the court. Duterte is a political rival of the current president.

She said her father was in a good mood and “well looked after”, and his only complaint about his conditions is that he misses Filipino food.

She also condemned what she described as political arrest. “There will be a day of billing for everyone,” she said when excited crowds around her sung “Duterte!” And “yes, yes!”

In the meantime, activists marched in the Filipino main city region and demanded justice for the thousands of suspects who were killed in dutal brutal procedures. Families of the killings looked at the ICC process on screens across the country, some portraits of their killed relatives when they listened to the accusations against Duterte in a courtroom around the world.

What is Duterte accused?

Prosecutors accuse Duterte of participating as an “indirect co-parpetrator” in several murders that were presumably supervised as mayor of the southern city of Davao and later as President of the Philippines from November 2011 to March 2019.

According to the public prosecutor's office, Duterte, as mayor of Davao, granted the police and other “hitmen”, which formed so-called Davao death groups or DDS.

He told them “that their mission consisted of killing criminals, including drug dealers and for certain DDS murders”, the prosecutors claimed and added that he had recruited, paid and rewarded the murderers and provided them with the necessary weapons and resources and promised to protect them from law enforcement. “

In the document that applied for an ICC arrest warrant against Duterte, the prosecutors put their case with evidence such as testimonies, talk about Duterte himself, government documents and video material.

The reaction of legal groups

Human rights groups and families of the victims have welcomed Duterte's arrest as a historical triumph against the impunity of the state, while the supporters of the former president have distributed this, which they describe as the handover of a political rival by the government to a court, the jurisdiction of which they deny.

“We are happy and we feel relieved,” said 55-year-old Melinda Abion Lafuente, mother of 22-year-old Angelo Lafuente, who was tortured and killed in 2016.

“Dutertes appearance before the ICCHH is proof of the courage and determination of the victims, their families and Filipino activists and journalists to pursue justice, no matter how long it takes,” said Bryony Lau, deputy director of Asia at Human Rights Watch. “Other leaders who are confronted with ICC, such as (Russian President) Vladimir Putin and (Israeli Prime Minister) Benjamin Netanyahu, should note that even those who look untouchable today can land in the Hague.”

Duterte's defense

The legal team of Duterte said that Filipino President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had no global court to take custody of the former leader because the Philippines are no longer a party for the ICC.

Medialdea said that “two restless units achieved an unlikely alliance. An incumbent president who wants to neutralize and suffocate my client's legacy and daughter “and” a restless legal institute that is subject to delegitimation “.

Judges who approved Duterte's arrest warrant said that the court was responsible because the crimes prescribed in the arrest warrant were committed before Duterte withdrew the Philippines from the court in 2019.

___

Jim Gomez, Joeal Calupitan and Aaron Favila in Manila, Philippines and Ahmad Seir in the Hague contributed to this report.