The International Criminal Court has issued war-crime arrest warrant on Russian President, Vladimir Putin, and Russian Commissioner for Children’s rights, Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, for allegedly plotting a scheme to deport Ukrainian children into Russian territory.
The order of arrest of Putin and Lvova-Belova linked to their violation of articles 8(2)(a)(vii) and 8(2)(b)(viii) of the Rome Statute was contained in a statement the Hague-based international court released on its website on Friday. The statement reads as follow:
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“There are reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Putin bears individual criminal responsibility for the aforementioned crimes, (i) for having committed the acts directly, jointly with others and/or through others (article 25(3)(a) of the Rome Statute), and (ii) 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 (article 28(b) of the Rome Statute).
“Ms Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, born on 25 October 1984, Commissioner for Children’s Rights in the Office of the President of the Russian Federation, 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 (under articles 8(2)(a)(vii) and 8(2)(b)(viii) of the Rome Statute.”
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“Nevertheless, mindful that the conduct addressed in the present situation is allegedly ongoing, and that the public awareness of the warrants may contribute to the prevention of the further commission of crimes, the Chamber considered that it is in the interests of justice to authorise the Registry to publicly disclose the existence of the warrants, the name of the suspects, the crimes for which the warrants are issued, and the modes of liability as established by the Chamber.”
However, Russia, has reportedly repudiated ICC’s decision, saying it is irrelevant as the court lacks jurisdiction to sanction Russia more so with unfounded claims. Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova was quoted by Aljazareer as saying:
“The decisions of the International Criminal Court have no meaning for our country, including from a legal point of view.
“Russia is not a party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and bears no obligations under it”.