Supporters of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte gathered outside the International Criminal Court (ICC) detention center in The Hague, Netherlands, yesterday, waving national flags and chanting "Bring him back!" as he was led through imposing iron gates.
Just before he landed in the Netherlands, the 79-year-old unapologetically defended his bloody "war on drugs" for which the ICC says there are "reasonable grounds" to charge him with murder as a crime against humanity.
Small-time drug dealers, users, and others were killed without trial while Duterte was mayor and later president.
The official number of people is 6.000, although activists believe the real figure could be in the tens of thousands.
Duterte said he cracked down on drug dealers to rid the country of street crime.
However, human rights groups allege that the campaign was fraught with police abuses, targeting young men from urban slums.
Duterte is the first former head of state from Asia to be indicted by the ICC - and the first suspect to be transferred to The Hague in the last three years.
Duterte was arrested on March 11 at Manila airport on an ICC warrant on charges of crimes against humanity.
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