ICC judges issue arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin over alleged war crimes
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International criminal court issues arrest warrant for Russia's president, Vladimir Putin â video
Vladimir Putin
Arrest warrants issued for Russian leader and his childrenâs rights commissioner for âunlawful deportationâ of Ukrainian children
Why has Putin been indicted?
Russia-Ukraine war â follow the latest updates
Julian Borger
in Washington and
Pjotr Sauer
Fri 17 Mar 2023 11.21 EDT
The international criminal court in The Hague has issued arrest warrants for Vladimir Putin and his childrenâs rights commissioner, Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, for the âunlawful deportationâ of Ukrainian children .
The courtâs pre-trial judges assessed there were âreasonable grounds to believe that each suspect bears responsibility for the war crime of unlawful deportation of population and that of unlawful transfer of population from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation, in prejudice of Ukrainian childrenâ.
The judges considered issuing secret warrants but decided that making them public could âcontribute to the prevention of the further commission of crimesâ.
Moscow has said it does not recognise the jurisdiction of the ICC .
âThe decisions of the international criminal court have no meaning for our country, including from a legal point of view,â the foreign ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said on her Telegram channel. âRussia is not a party to the Rome statute of the international criminal court and bears no obligations under it.â
Ukraineâs presidential chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, welcomed the news on social media , adding: âIts just the beginning.â
Wayne Jordash, a Kyiv-based international human rights lawyer and managing partner of Global Rights Compliance, agreed that the warrants for Putin and Lvova-Belova were likely to be the first of many.
âMore will come over the next few months. This has got to be a sort of warning shot across the bow. This is the prosecutor just getting something in the docket,â Jordash said. The ICC prosecutor, Karim Khan, began war crimes investigations in Ukraine over a year ago.
The Russian leadership has been completely overt about its taking Ukrainian children to Russia and placing them in camps or putting them up for adoption by Russian families. On 16 February, Lvova-Belova appeared on television telling Putin about the programme and revealing she herself had âadoptedâ a 15-year-old child from Mariupol, the south-eastern Ukrainian city that was devastated and occupied by Russian forces.
âNow I know what it means to be a mother of a child from Donbas. Itâs hard, but we definitely love each other. I think we can handle anything,â Lvova-Belova told Putin at the meeting at his Novo-Ogaryovo residence near Moscow.
The televised conversation may have been a factor in Khanâs decision to issue his first requests for arrest warrants for Putin and Lvova-Belova.
âThereâs a clear case here against Putin,â Jordash said. So I think itâs good to see the prosecutor focusing on childrenâs rights. I think this is what international prosecutors have failed to do over the last 20 years, so this is a good focus, as itâs one of the worst crimes being committed.â
Balkees Jarrah, associate international justice director at Human Rights Watch said: âWith these arrest warrants, the ICC has made Putin a wanted man and taken its first step to end the impunity that has emboldened perpetrators in Russiaâs war against Ukraine for far too long.
âThe warrants send a clear message that giving orders to commit or tolerating serious crimes against civilians may lead to a prison cell in The Hague. The courtâs warrants are a wakeup call to others committing abuses or covering them up that their day in court may be coming, regardless of their rank or position.â
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International criminal court issues arrest warrant for Russia's president, Vladimir Putin â video. Vladimir Putin. Arrest warrants issued for Russian leader and his childrenâs rights commissioner for âunlawful deportationâ of Ukrainian children. Why has Putin been indicted? Russia-Ukraine war â follow the latest updates. Julian Borger. in Washington and. Pjotr Sauer. Fri 17 Mar 2023 11.21 EDT. The international criminal court in The Hague has issued arrest warrants for Vladimir Putin and his childrenâs rights commissioner, Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, for the âunlawful deportationâ of Ukrainian children . The courtâs pre-trial judges assessed there were âreasonable grounds to believe that each suspect bears responsibility for the war crime of unlawful deportation of population and that of unlawful transfer of population from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation, in prejudice of Ukrainian childrenâ. The judges considered issuing secret warrants but decided that making them public could âcontribute to the prevention of the further commission of crimesâ. Moscow has said it does not recognise the jurisdiction of the ICC . âThe decisions of the international criminal court have no meaning for our country, including from a legal point of view,â the foreign ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said on her Telegram channel. âRussia is not a party to the Rome statute of the international criminal court and bears no obligations under it.â Ukraineâs presidential chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, welcomed the news on social media , adding: âIts just the beginning.â Wayne Jordash, a Kyiv-based international human rights lawyer and managing partner of Global Rights Compliance, agreed that the warrants for Putin and Lvova-Belova were likely to be the first of many. âMore will come over the next few months. This has got to be a sort of warning shot across the bow. This is the prosecutor just getting something in the docket,â Jordash said. The ICC prosecutor, Karim Khan, began war crimes investigations in Ukraine over a year ago. The Russian leadership has been completely overt about its taking Ukrainian children to Russia and placing them in camps or putting them up for adoption by Russian families. On 16 February, Lvova-Belova appeared on television telling Putin about the programme and revealing she herself had âadoptedâ a 15-year-old child from Mariupol, the south-eastern Ukrainian city that was devastated and occupied by Russian forces. âNow I know what it means to be a mother of a child from Donbas. Itâs hard, but we definitely love each other. I think we can handle anything,â Lvova-Belova told Putin at the meeting at his Novo-Ogaryovo residence near Moscow. The televised conversation may have been a factor in Khanâs decision to issue his first requests for arrest warrants for Putin and Lvova-Belova. âThereâs a clear case here against Putin,â Jordash said. So I think itâs good to see the prosecutor focusing on childrenâs rights. I think this is what international prosecutors have failed to do over the last 20 years, so this is a good focus, as itâs one of the worst crimes being committed.â Balkees Jarrah, associate international justice director at Human Rights Watch said: âWith these arrest warrants, the ICC has made Putin a wanted man and taken its first step to end the impunity that has emboldened perpetrators in Russiaâs war against Ukraine for far too long. âThe warrants send a clear message that giving orders to commit or tolerating serious crimes against civilians may lead to a prison cell in The Hague. The courtâs warrants are a wakeup call to others committing abuses or covering them up that their day in court may be coming, regardless of their rank or position.â Topics. Vladimir Putin. International criminal court. Russia. Ukraine. news. Reuse this content.