Philippines’ President Rodrigo Duterte has said he will “prepare for my defense” against an International Criminal Court probe into his deadly drug war after he retires from politics.
“I will prepare for my defense in the ICC,” Duterte said in a pre-recorded speech released late Monday, having previously insisted he would not cooperate with the court.
“Just don’t lie. Don’t invent [stories] that you will even charge me with the deaths of those who had malaria,” he said in his first public comments on the investigation. “That’s foolishness. In that case, you’re not looking for justice. Don’t cheat on the evidence.”
In 2018, critics of Duterte’s drug war, along with relatives of suspects killed in police operations, filed a complaint against Duterte before ICC for crimes against humanity.
Duterte said that he would answer for police officers involved in drug war operations, especially in cases when suspects were killed — “as long as they obeyed the law.”
“I will protect you. That’s on me, not on me. I will answer for that, and if someone has to be imprisoned, then let me be the one imprisoned,” Duterte said. (AW)
