THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Jailed former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte appeared Friday by videoconference before judges at the International Criminal Court, days after his arrest in Manila on murder charges linked to the deadly “war on drugs” that he oversaw while in office.

The 79-year-old Duterte didn’t show up at the court in The Hague, but appeared on a video screen from the detention center where he is being held, about a mile away.

For families of victims of the drugs crackdown, Duterte’s appearance in court was a long-awaited sign of hope. Duterte’s vocal supporters call the arrest illegal. His lawyer, Salvador Medialdea, used the hearing to slam his arrest in Manila as a “pure and simple kidnapping.” He said Duterte “was denied all access to the legal recourse in the country of his citizenship, and this all in the nature of political score-settling.”

Presiding Judge Iulia Antoanella Motoc set a pretrial hearing date of Sept. 23 to establish if prosecution evidence is strong enough to merit sending the case to trial.

— The Associated Press