The International Criminal Court ruled Friday that former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte will remain in detention after appeals judges rejected a request for his provisional release.

Duterte faces charges of crimes against humanity linked to alleged involvement in extrajudicial killings during his brutal campaign against drugs while he was president and earlier mayor of the southern city of Davao, the International Criminal Court revealed in September.

Duterte has denied authorizing extrajudicial killings during his term as president between 2016 and 2022, although he openly threatened drug suspects with death and encouraged police to open fire if suspects violently resisted arrest.

Those instructions led to thousands of extrajudicial killings by police of mostly poor drug suspects, according to Amnesty International.

The charges made against Duterte date from November 1, 2011, when he was still the mayor of Davao, to March 16, 2019, when the country withdrew from the court. 

Duterte was arrested this March and flown to the Netherlands. He is currently being held at an ICC facility in the Netherlands.

ICC rejects Duterte's request for interim release on health grounds

"The Appeals Chamber found that the defense failed to identify errors" in an October lower court decision that the ex-leader remain in detention, presiding judge Luz del Carmen Ibanez said.

Duterte's lawyers say his health is deteriorating in the facility, and in September, the court postponed a pretrial hearing until a full medical assessment could be made.

The defense said it plans to "reintroduce its request to release" Duterte following the results of a medication examination expected next month, lawyer Nick Kaufman said in a statement.

Duterte was not in court to hear the ruling.

Edited by: Dmytro Hubenko