Australia is a possible destination for the interim release of the Philippines’ former president, Rodrigo Duterte, who is currently being held at the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) detention centre in the Netherlands.
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Philippines’ Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio said her father’s lawyers were looking at Australia for his release to a third-party country, The Philippine Star newspaper reported on Tuesday.
Duterte has been detained in The Hague since March over alleged crimes linked to his administration’s “war on drugs”, a campaign that resulted in thousands of deaths among suspected drug dealers and users.
The former president, who claimed the arrest was unlawful and equal to kidnapping, has petitioned the ICC for an interim release to another country earlier this month, according to his lawyer.
Duterte-Carpio flew to Melbourne last Tuesday for a week-long visit which she said was a “personal trip” instead of a holiday or to scout for a possible location for her father if he was released.
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“I am not here for the interim release, not for this visit,” she said on Sunday, according to ABS-CBN News. “I am here to discuss with the Filipino community on ways forward for our country, and of course how we can push the administration to do more for our country.”