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International Criminal Court issues arrest warrant for Putin for war crimes in Ukraine

Judges accused the Russian president of involvement in the abduction of children after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Vladimir Putin, President of Russia

(Wikimedia Commons)

Published by
Juan Carlos Téllez

The International Criminal Court on Friday issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes in Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Specifically, the Hague Tribunal judges accuse Putin of alleged involvement in the abduction of children in Ukraine.

The court noted in a statement that Putin "is allegedly responsible for the war crime of illegal deportation of population [children] and illegal transfer of population [children] from the occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation."

There are reasonable grounds to believe that Mr. Putin bears individual criminal responsibility for the aforementioned crimes, for having committed the acts directly, jointly with others and/or through others of the Rome Statute), and for his failure to exercise control properly over civilian and military subordinates who committed the acts, or allowed for their commission, and who were under his effective authority and control, pursuant to superior responsibility.

The International Court also issued an arrest warrant for Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, commissioner for children's rights at the Office of the President of the Russian Federation, on similar charges.

[Lvova-Belova] is allegedly responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of population [children] and that of unlawful transfer of population [children] from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation. The crimes were allegedly committed in Ukrainian occupied territory at least from 24 February 2022. There are reasonable grounds to believe that Ms. Lvova-Belova bears individual criminal responsibility for the aforementioned crimes, for having committed the acts directly, jointly with others and/or through others.

The indictment carries little prospect of actually bringing a Russian official to court, as Moscow does not recognize the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.

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