The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian children’s rights ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova. The warrant was issued by the Pre-trial Chamber of the Court in the case of “illegal export of children.” This is reported in press release on the website of the court. Russia does not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC.
According to the statement, Mr. Putin and Ms. Lvova-Belova “are allegedly responsible for war crimes related to the illegal deportation of the population (children) from the occupied territories of Ukraine to the territory of the Russian Federation.”
“There are reasonable grounds to believe that Mr. Putin bears individual criminal responsibility for the above crimes, for committing acts directly, jointly with and/or through others, and for failing to exercise proper control over civilian and military subordinates,” the statement reads. press release.
“The crimes were allegedly committed in the occupied territory of Ukraine since at least February 24, 2022. There are reasonable grounds to believe that Ms. Lvova-Belova bears individual criminal responsibility for these crimes, for committing acts directly, jointly with other persons and / or through other persons, ”the document says.
The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, recalled that Russia is not a party to the Rome Statute of the ICC and does not bear obligations under it. “Russia is not cooperating with this body, and possible “recipes” for arrest coming from the International Court of Justice will be legally null and void for us,” she wrote. Telegram. Earlier, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia does not recognize the decisions of the ICC in cases of war crimes of the Russian army in Ukraine.
Newspaper The New York Times On March 13, citing sources, she said that in the near future the ICC would open two cases against Russian officials because of alleged crimes in Ukraine: one because of the deportation of Ukrainian children, the second because of attacks on civilian infrastructure.
The ICC is not related to the International Court of Justice, which also sits in The Hague. The ICC was established by the Rome Statute, adopted in 1998. It prosecutes those responsible for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and crimes of aggression. The ICC can initiate cases on the proposal of the UN Security Council, but is not part of the UN structures. According to Article 63 of the Rome Statute of the ICC, trial in absentia is not possible.
Since the beginning of the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the parties have accused each other of shelling civilian infrastructure, using civilians as human shields, and torturing prisoners of war. In June 2022, the head of the Investigative Committee of Russia Alexander Bastrykin proposed the creation of an international tribunal of “allies and like-minded people” in Ukraine.
Read more about what happens after the entry of Russian troops into Ukraine, read the online broadcast “Kommersant”.