By Natasha Preskey

Copyright bbc

Rodrigo Duterte is the first Asian former head of state to be indicted by the ICC – and the first suspect to be flown to The Hague in Netherlands – where the court is based – in over three years. He has been in custody there since March.

His lawyer has said Mr Duterte is not able to stand trial due to poor health.

In May, the former president was again elected mayor of Davao, despite being in prison. His son Sebastian (who had been serving as mayor since 2022), has continued on as acting mayor in his father’s stead.

Mr Duterte’s supporters alleged the ICC was being used as a political tool by the country’s current president Ferdinand Marcos, who had publicly fallen out with the powerful Duterte family.

The ICC effectively has no power to arrest people without the co-operation of the countries they are in, which is most often refused – and Marcos had previously dismissed the idea of co-operating with the ICC.