Biden: arrest warrant against Putin justified
03:17| US President Joe Biden calls the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Russian President Vladimir Putin justified. “I think that’s a really strong point,” Biden said in Washington on Friday. Putin clearly committed war crimes, he said. However, the International Criminal Court is not recognized all over the world, “not even by us”, added the president.
The International Criminal Court in The Hague on Friday issued an arrest warrant against Putin for war crimes in Ukraine. Investigators accuse him of kidnapping children from occupied Ukrainian territory to Russian territory.
When asked whether Putin would have been arrested under the ICC’s arrest warrant had he traveled to America, security spokesman John Kirby answered evasively on Friday evening. In any case, he thinks Putin is unlikely to come. A Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman earlier said the arrest warrant for Putin has no meaning because Russia is not a member of the so-called Rome Statute. This is the legal basis for the criminal court.
Friday 17 March
The International Criminal Court issues an arrest warrant for Putin
18:41 | Judges at the International Criminal Court in The Hague (ICC) on Friday issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes allegedly committed in Ukraine. According to the criminal court, Putin is responsible for the illegal deportation of children and their transfer from Ukrainian territory to Russia.
An arrest warrant was also issued against Maria Lvova-Belova. You are the Russian Commissioner for Children’s Rights. She is also held responsible for alleged deportations from Russian-occupied territories to Ukraine.
According to Karim Khan, chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Russia has removed hundreds of Ukrainian children from orphanages and orphanages. Many of these children are said to have been brought to Russia and adopted there. Lvova-Belova herself also adopted a 15-year-old boy from Mariupol in this way, she said in February.
A Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman says the arrest warrant for Putin makes no sense because the country is not a member of the so-called Rome Statute, which is the court’s legal basis. “Russia bears no responsibility to the International Criminal Court,” the spokesman said.
It is not yet clear how the ICC intends to execute the arrest warrant. Since Russia does not recognize the ICC, Putin is unlikely to actually appear in court. Furthermore, the International Criminal Court cannot hold a trial in the absence of the defendant.
Ukraine, however, calls the arrest warrant “historic for Ukraine and for the international judicial system”. According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office, it is “just the beginning”.
Khan opened an investigation into possible war crimes against humanity and genocide in Ukraine a year ago. Moscow has repeatedly denied that Russia has committed war crimes since it invaded Ukraine more than a year ago.
EU foreign chief: Putin’s arrest warrant is just the beginning
18:15 | The arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for Russian President Vladimir Putin is important, but “only the beginning,” said EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell. He expressed the EU’s “appreciation and support” for the ICC investigation.
The arrest warrant issued on Friday “is an important decision for international justice and for the Ukrainian people,” Borrell said. According to him, the seriousness of the offenses cited by the criminal court speaks for itself. The International Criminal Court accuses Putin of deporting Ukrainian children to Russia.
The Hague tribunal’s move “is only the beginning of the process” of prosecuting and punishing “Russia and its leader for the crimes and atrocities they commit in Ukraine,” Borrell said.