'You must be stupid': Duterte says he won't be tried by international court

MANILA, July 17 (Reuters) - Philippine President Rodrigo
Duterte has declared he will never be tried by an international
court for mass killings in his war on drugs, and vowed no let up
in a crackdown that he said he was winning and would see through
"to the very end".
In a television interview with a celebrity pastor, the
firebrand leader said the Philippine justice system was working
fine, so it would be "stupid" to imagine he would let an
international court put him on trial.
"I will only face, be tried or face a trial, in a Philippine
court. Presided by a Filipino judge. Prosecuted by a Filipino
... I will not answer a Caucasian, asking questions, white man
there. You must be stupid," he said late on Tuesday.
"I am a Filipino. We have our courts here... Shit. You have
to bring me somewhere else? I would not like that. I have my
country. It's working. I know it's working. Justice is working
here."
His opponents argue otherwise and say police are killing
with impunity, and that with an approval rating of about 80
percent, a super-majority in Congress and presidential
appointees heading courts, commissions and investigative bodies,
there is little chance of Duterte being impeached or prosecuted
at home.
Duterte, 74, has previously said he was so committed to his
war on drugs that he was prepared to be tried for crimes against
humanity at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague,
or rot in jail there.
However, within weeks of an ICC prosecutor announcing in
February 2018 that a preliminary examination was being conducted
into the killings, Duterte ordered police not to cooperate, and
then unilaterally cancelled the Philippines' ICC membership. The
ICC examination continues, despite his withdrawal. latest show of defiance comes days after the U.N. Human
Rights Council approved a resolution to hold an investigation
into the killings, responding to a call from 11 U.N. experts
concerned about a "staggering" amount of deaths. The Philippine government has rejected the resolution as
meddling by biased Western states, and denies activists'
allegations that police are executing thousands of drug users
and peddlers.
Duterte said he was making gains in his anti-narcotics
campaign, with less drugs on the streets.
He said suspects should choose to "drop the drugs or drop
dead", but suggested that was merely an expression, not an
instruction to kill.
"Whether they like it or not, I will continue what I started
to the very end," he said.