FALSE. Heads of state and global leaders gathered to call for the release of former President Rodrigo Duterte from ICC custody.
FACT. The image of NATO leaders was authentic, but it was manipulated to use for pro-Duterte disinformation.
A group photo of presidents and world leaders posing in front of “Bring him home” posters with ex-president Rodrigo Duterte’s standee is spreading on Facebook.
The group image of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) leaders – including U.S. President Donald Trump, United Kingdom Prime Minister Kei Starmer, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte – was legitimate.
It was taken during the 2025 NATO summit, where members discuss collective defense and international security matters.
However it was edited to make it appear as if the world leaders are appealing for the urgent release of ex-president Duterte from the International Criminal Court (ICC) prison in The Hague, Netherlands.
The posters with a “Bring him home” sign and Duterte’s human-sized standee were all fake. The original image does not contain such politically-driven elements.
NATO leaders do not acquire the legal authority to release someone from an ICC detention facility.
They have no treaty-based jurisdiction or institutional capacity to hold up the ICC’s judicial processes or management of its detention centers.
Meanwhile, the ICC proceeds in accordance with the ROME Statute, and not the NATO charter.
