Duterte arrest a 'historic moment' that will serve as 'warning' to others – expert - video Dailymotion

The Manila Times

Duterte arrest a 'historic moment' that will serve as 'warning' to others – expert  "For many years it seemed as though President Duterte was very much above the law, which is why it is such a historic day," says Human Rights Watch Asia Advocacy Director John Sifton following the arrest of former president Rodrigo Duterte on an International Criminal Court warrant over his deadly crackdown on drugs. "And that should be a warning to leaders around the world that even when they think they are above the law and they can escape justice, it can come for them anyway," he adds.   AFP VIDEO  Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe   Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net   Follow us:  Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook  Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram  Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter  DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion   Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital   Check out our Podcasts:  Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify  Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts  Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic  Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer  Tune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein  #TheManilaTimes #worldnews  #icc  #worldleader  #duterte

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00:00For many years, it seemed as though President Duterte was very much above the law, which

00:05is why it is such a historic day.

00:08If you had told many Filipinos, if you had told us at Human Rights Watch that one day

00:15President Duterte would be on an airplane flying to The Hague, we would have been very

00:19surprised given the level of impunity that he enjoyed.

00:24It's a historic day, and I think Filipino victims and survivors and surviving family

00:33members of victims should have a lot to celebrate today.

00:36Well, the arrest of President Duterte is a historic moment for justice in the Philippines.

00:44President Duterte was implicated in killings even before he was president of the Philippines

00:49when he was mayor of Davao City in southern Philippines.

00:53But when he was elected president in 2016 and unleashed a national campaign, it resulted

00:59in the killings of thousands and thousands of Filipinos, men, women, and children even.

01:06And today is a historic moment for the victims and their families and everybody else who's

01:13been left behind in the wake of this brutal campaign of killings issued.

01:18But this is the first in Asia, and that is truly historic.

01:22There are cases that have been brought against heads of state.

01:26There are indictments from Vladimir Putin to various leaders in Africa, Syria, and Sudan.

01:35But this is an example of something we've all said, which is justice will come for people.

01:46Not always, but it does happen.

01:48And that should be a warning to leaders around the world that even when they think they are

01:52above the law and they can escape justice, it can come for them anyway.

02:00I can't speak for what this means to the Russian government, to the Israeli government, or

02:06to any other government where there's a head of state or officials who are facing indictments

02:12from the International Criminal Court, or for that matter, the leaders of Hamas who

02:17have also been indicted by the International Criminal Court.

02:21But I can say that I hope that every leader who has committed or is thinking about committing

02:28human rights abuses of this gravity, that this gives them pause and that this gives

02:34them a little bit of anxiety, because that is the purpose of justice, one of the purposes

02:42of justice, to deter other abusers from committing abuses.

02:47Well, he has to be tried.

02:49He has to be convicted.

02:50There will be numerous challenges and pre-trial hearings about legal issues, jurisdictional

02:58issues, which will take quite a long time to sort out.

03:02The International Criminal Court does things very methodically by the book.

03:07The judges are very thorough.

03:10And of course, President Duterte deserves a fair trial, a privilege and a right that

03:17he denied thousands of people himself when he had them gunned down on the accusations

03:25that they were drug users.

03:27But he will get a fair trial.

03:30And if the evidence against him is strong, he will be convicted.

Duterte arrest a 'historic moment' that will serve as 'warning' to others – expert

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