Source: Moscow considers unacceptable the plan of Yerevan on the ICC against the backdrop of court orders on Russia

MOSCOW, 27 Mar — Armenia’s intention to accede to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court is unacceptable for Russia, a source in the Foreign Ministry said.

Armenian colleagues were warned about the extremely negative consequences of their possible steps for bilateral relations with Moscow, the source added.

On March 24, the Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Armenia, Arman Dilanyan, stated that the Constitutional Court recognized the obligations enshrined in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court as consistent with the Basic Law. According to him, the decision of the Constitutional Court is final, and it comes into force from the moment of its publication.

After the decision of the Constitutional Court, the Rome Statute will have to be ratified by the country’s parliament.

In mid-March, the ICC Pre-trial Chamber issued a warrant for the “arrest” of Vladimir Putin and children’s ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova. The court accused them of “deporting” children whom the authorities had rescued from Ukrainian shelling and taken out of the war zone to safe areas.

According to presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov, raising the question of the ICC about Putin’s “arrest” is unacceptable, Moscow does not recognize the jurisdiction of the court, and any of its decisions are null and void from the point of view of law. Deputy Chairman of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev, in turn, noted that the issuance of such an order creates a huge negative potential and may have consequences in the form of a response from Moscow.

The Investigative Committee opened a criminal case against the prosecutor Karim Ahmad Khan and the judges of the International Criminal Court – Tomoko Akane, Rosario Salvatore Aytala and Sergio Gerardo Ugalde Godinez.