The International Criminal Court issues an arrest warrant against Vladimir Putin | War in Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin (File photo)
The International Criminal Court (ICC) issues a warrant to #x27;judgment against the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, in relation to war crimes committed in Ukraine.
According to a statement sent Friday morning by the ICC, the Russian president is responsible for the illegal deportation of people (children) from occupied areas in Ukraine to Russia, an act it considers a war crime.
These crimes were allegedly committed at least from February 24, 2022, the date of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
There are reasonable grounds to believe that Mr. Putin bears individual criminal responsibility for these crimes, “whether individually, jointly with another person, or through another person, and for failing restrain subordinates placed under his effective authority and control.
An arrest warrant, also relating to the illegal deportation of minors, has also been issued against Maria Alekseyevna Lvova -Belova, Presidential Commissioner for the Rights of the Child in Russia since October 2021.
Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights in Russia since October 2021.
The New York Timesrevealed on Monday that ICC prosecutor Karim Khan intended to officially open two war crimes cases and issue arrest warrants for Russians found responsible for the mass kidnapping of, among other things. Ukrainian children and the targeting of Ukrainian civilian infrastructure.
On Thursday, a group of United Nations investigators said that Russia's transfer of Ukrainian children to areas under its control in Ukraine as well as its own territory constitutes a war crime, also referring to possible crimes against humanity.
These are the first arrest warrants issued by the ICC in connection with the war in Ukraine.
The ICC does not recognize the immunity of heads of state in cases of war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide. It remains unlikely that these warrants will lead to a trial, especially since Russia is not a member of the ICC, based in The Hague, in the Netherlands.
The Kremlin responded quickly on Friday and denounced the meaningless and insignificant decisions of the International Criminal Court.
The decisions of the International Criminal Court are meaningless for our country, including from a legal point of view, because Moscow has no obligation to it, wrote on Telegram the spokeswoman for Russian diplomacy Maria Zakharova, without referring by name to Vladimir Putin in her message.
Moscow has always denied the accusations of war crimes towards him, but did not hide the transfers of Ukrainian children to Russia, describing them as adoptions of abandoned children and promoting the program as a patriotic and humanitarian effort.
It's just the beginning, meanwhile posted Andry Yermak, chief of staff of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, on Telegram.
Top of the widget. Skip the widget? End of the widget. Back to the top of the widget?With information from Agence France-Presse, New York Times, Guardian, and CNN
