It was a birthday party gone wrong as the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) confirmed on Saturday that several Filipinos were detained in Qatar after they massed up to celebrate the birthday of former President Rodrigo Duterte and protest his arrest by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

DFA Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega said 17 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) were detained at a police station in Qatar.

On Friday, the Philippine Embassy in Qatar said it was “aware that several Filipino nationals have been arrested and detained… for suspected unauthorized political demonstrations.” De Vega said political demonstrations are not allowed in Qatar.

“There are countries that don’t want rallies about local politics but if other countries, let’s say, talk about their president, that’s fine. But in Qatar anything discussed, even if it’s not about the country (is not allowed). In this case, what was being discussed was sending President Duterte to The Hague. Well, there were arrests,” he said.

While De Vega did not confirm the arrests were due to a protest for the former president, he said it was “most likely” the reason.

The DFA official added it was Duterte’s 80th birthday and his supporters across the Philippines and the world had gathered to celebrate it.

The former president is detained at Scheveningen Prison in The Hague, Netherlands. He is facing charges of crimes against humanity before the International Criminal Court for the extrajudicial killings during his administration’s war on drugs.

Meanwhile, De Vega said the embassy in Qatar had sent officials to coordinate with the Qatari authorities and to offer the detained Filipinos consular and legal services.

“We always have a lawyer at the embassy there who is on retainer. But the problem is the justice system there is different, sometimes they don’t want to talk to the embassy until the investigation is finished,” he said.

Different strokes

However, if the circumstances for the arrest are harmless, the Qatari authorities set the detainees free after a few days, De Vega said.

“Maybe they’ll be detained for a few days and then released, so we hope that happens,” he said.

He reiterated the embassy’s call to all Filipinos in Qatar to adhere to the advisory to not organize or participate in political rallies because it is prohibited.

De Vega said the DFA is not restricting Filipinos’ right to free speech but reminding them to be mindful of local laws and customs in their host countries.

The protest action took place about an hour outside the capital, Doha.