Russia will put ICC judges who issued arrest warrants against Putin on the wanted list

According to the head of Russia’s investigative committee, Alexander Bastrykin, the department will put on a wanted list the judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) who issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Children’s Ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova. The statement said:

“The investigative committee then very quickly initiated criminal proceedings against the prosecutor, the chairman and three judges who actively influenced this decision. We will soon place them on the wanted list.”

The Russian authorities repeatedly stressed that the decisions of the ICC have no meaning for Moscow, even in legal terms. In March of this year, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Putin and Lvowa-Belowa. The reason given was the alleged suspicion of the “illegal deportation of children from the occupied territories of Ukraine to Russia”.

The Kremlin called the judgment of the International Criminal Court legally void. Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov explained that Russia “like a number of states does not recognize the jurisdiction of this court”. For her part, Lvova-Belova stressed that Moscow was not doing anything illegal. The Ombudswoman argued:

“We have not received a single request confirming that children were separated from their parents, that, for example, this or that child was deported, that is, was forcibly taken to Russian territory.”

At the time, Kiev greeted the decision with a vengeance. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba welcomed it by claiming that “the wheels of justice are turning”.

While 123 countries had signed the Rome Statute, 41 had not – including China, India, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. In addition to Russia, Israel, Sudan and the USA had also withdrawn their signatures. The US Congress even passed legislation in 2002 banning all cooperation with the court and authorizing “all necessary and reasonable means” to extricate any American or national of an allied country from The Hague, if necessary by military force.

more on the subject – Arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court against Putin: reactions and legal consequences