Q&A: 'I need to be vindicated': Leila de Lima on Duterte and the drug war

Manila, Philippines – Leila de Lima was released from detention last month into what the former Philippines senator calls "a whole new world". In 2016, then-President Rodrigo Duterte promised to "destroy" de Lima, one of the loudest critics of his deadly drug war. The president's supporters began targeting the first-term senator and former human rights commissioner – ridiculing her for an alleged romantic affair with her driver, and accusing her of involvement in drug trafficking. In February 2017, she was arrested on drug charges she denies and that international observers have said are politically motivated. "I had this deep sense of disbelief," de Lima told Al Jazeera. "I never thought that Mr Duterte would go to that extent, that length, of jailing me. I thought it would just be daily vilification, personal attacks, attacks against my womanhood."