The International Criminal Court said on Saturday it had not been intimidated by Russia by putting prosecutor Karim Khan on a wanted list for issuing an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin.
“The ICC considers these measures to be unacceptable. The court will not be intimidated in carrying out its legal mandate to ensure accountability for the most serious crimes,” the Hague-based court said in a statement.
Last March, the ICC published an arrest warrant against the Russian president as allegedly responsible for the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children and their transfer from occupied areas in Ukraine to Russiawhich means a war crime according to the treaty of this court known as Rome StatuteThe ICC pre-trial chamber also issued a second arrest warrant against the Russian politician Maria Lvova-BelovaPresidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights in Russia, with the same accusation. Both arrest warrants are the first of their kind issued by the ICC in the context of its investigation into possible war crimes committed by Russia in the illegal invasion of Ukraine.
After the orders against Putin and his official, Khan defended the real possibility that the Russian would face trial for war crimes committed in Ukraine. “Those who believe it is impossible” for the Russian leader to be held accountable for the acts committed in Ukraine “do not understand history,” said the prosecutor, now the target of Russian persecution. The prosecutor cited the Nuremberg Trials (1954-1946) as examples. -for war crimes in Nazi Germany- and the judicial process for the genocide in Rwanda. “All of them implicated powerful and imposing individuals and yet they ended up in court,” Khan added. Then, the prosecutor also noted that the arrest warrant against Putin is a clear message: “No one should feel that they can commit genocide or crimes against humanity with impunity”.
News in development
Source-www.infobae.com