Allegedly Killing 76 Former Philippine President Duterte Reasons For Wanting To Be Free, ICC: Still Detained

JAKARTA - The International Criminal Court (ICC) rejected a request for release from Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on the grounds that he was medically ill.

The ICC still detained Duterte, who was accused by the ICC of being involved in the murder of 76 people while becoming President of the Philippines and previously serving as mayor of the country's southern region.

"The assembly has decided that Duterte's detention is still needed," the ICC said in its decision, Friday, October 10, quoted from AFP.

The ICC prosecutor charged Duterte with three counts of crimes against humanity, accusing him of involvement in at least 76 murders under the pretext of war against drugs.

The first indictment concerns his alleged involvement as a joint perpetrator in 19 murders committed between 2013 and 2016 when Duterte served as Mayor of Davao.

The second indictment relates to 14 killings of the so-called 'High-valued Target' in 2016 and 2017 when Duterte served as president.

And the third indictment is about 43 killings carried out during a "cleaning" operation against suspected users or low-level drug dealers.

The killings allegedly occurred throughout the Philippines between 2016 and 2018.