In connection with the suspected kidnapping of Ukrainian children, judges order that an arrest warrant be issued for the Russian president. However, Moscow does not agree with this decision.
For suspected war crimes in Ukraine, the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia.
In a statement released on Friday, the court in The Hague said that the order was made because Putin is thought to have been involved in the forced removal and transfer of minors from the seized Ukrainian territories to Russia.
The court noted that there were “reasonable reasons to suspect that Mr. Putin has individual criminal responsibility for the foregoing offences,” despite the fact that it lacked a police force of its own to carry out search warrants.
The ICC also issued a warrant for the arrest of Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, who works for the Russian president and is in charge of children’s rights.
ICC President Piotr Hofmanski, however, told Al Jazeera that Russia’s refusal to ratify the Rome Statute was “totally irrelevant.”
According to the ICC law, which has 123 state parties, or two-thirds of the entire international community, the court has jurisdiction over crimes committed on the territory of a state party or a state that has recognised its jurisdiction.”Twice, in 2014 and 2015, Ukraine accepted the ICC.”
Hofmanski stated that 43 states have “officially invoked our jurisdiction” by referring “the situation in Ukraine” to the court.
Regardless of the nationality of the suspected offenders, the court has jurisdiction over crimes committed against anybody on Ukrainian territory since November 2013.
The warrants were sent out the day after an investigation backed by the UN said that Russia had done many war crimes in Ukraine, including forcing minors to leave areas it controlled.
Andriy Kostin, the general prosecutor of Ukraine, praised the ICC’s choice.
In a message on social media, he stated, “The world received a signal that the Russian system is criminal and that its leadership and henchmen will be held accountable.” For Ukraine and the whole body of international law, this ruling is momentous.
SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES AND AL JAZEERA
