Plane that brought Duterte takes off from UAE: tracking site

Former President Rodrigo Duterte boards plane going to an undisclosed location, a few hours after a warrant of arrest from the International Criminal Court was served by INTERPOL Manila on March 11, 2025. Contributed Photo

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- The plane that brought arrested ex-Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte to Dubai en route to the Netherlands took off after a stopover of several hours on Wednesday, a flight tracking site said.

It was not possible to confirm whether Duterte, who was bound for The Hague following his arrest on an International Criminal Court warrant tied to his deadly crackdown on drugs, was still on the privately owned aircraft.

Lawyers for the 79-year-old have filed a petition demanding he be sent back to Manila, where he was arrested on Tuesday.

The Gulfstream G550 took off from Dubai's Al Maktoum International Airport for Rotterdam just before midday local time (3:58 p.m., Philippine time), about eight hours after it landed, flightradar24.com said.

READ: Doctors check on Hague-bound Duterte

Duterte was arrested on Tuesday following his arrival from Hong Kong, and faces a charge of "the crime against humanity of murder," according to the ICC, for a crackdown that rights groups estimate killed tens of thousands of mostly poor men, often without proof they were linked to drugs.

© Agence France-Presse

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