Senator Flees International Court Arrest Over Role in Philippine Drug War

Philippine Senator Ronald Dela Rosa has been taken into custody by police after fleeing the country’s parliament building on Monday. A warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) had been unsealed earlier in the day, charging Dela Rosa with being an “indirect co-perpetrator” in the crime against humanity of murder.

The ICC confirmed that the warrant was issued confidentially on November 6 and charges Dela Rosa with responsibility for killings carried out between July 2016 and April 2018. The former police chief, who ran the Philippine National Police during the height of the country’s deadly drug war, is accused of overseeing operations that human rights groups say resulted in tens of thousands of deaths.

Dela Rosa had been absent from public life since rumors of an impending warrant in November, but resurfaced on Monday to cast a deciding vote in a Senate leadership coup. However, upon arrival at the parliament building, he found National Bureau of Investigation agents waiting for him and fled through the corridors. The Senate was subsequently placed on “lockdown” by Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, who stated that he would only honour an arrest order made by a Philippine court.

Dela Rosa later appeared on Facebook to appeal for support, stating that he had been taken into custody and was facing extradition to The Hague. He expressed his concerns about the warrant and his role in the country’s drug war efforts.

Source: Al Jazeera