The International Criminal Court (ICC) will open a representative office in Ukraine. This was reported in the telegram channel of the country’s attorney general’s office.
The corresponding agreement was signed by Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andrey Kostin and ICC Secretary Peter Lewis in The Hague.
“It’s only a start, but a good start. I’m confident that we won’t stop until all those responsible for the international crimes committed against Ukraine are brought to justice,” Kostin said.
The International Criminal Court in The Hague was established in 2002 under the Rome Statute of 1998, which was signed by 123 countries. At the same time, Ukraine is not among the states that have ratified the Rome Statute. The ICC investigates “serious violations” of the Geneva Conventions. The United States, China, Russia, India, Turkey and some other countries do not recognize the jurisdiction of the criminal court in The Hague.
On March 17, the ICC announced that it had issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Children’s Ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova. The court statement says Putin and Lvova-Belova are suspected of involvement in a war crime – the illegal deportation of children from Ukraine.
Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia does not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC, so the decisions of this court are null and void in terms of law. In turn, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia Dmitry Medvedev threatened to launch a missile attack on the ICC building.
Meanwhile, the Russian Investigative Committee opened a criminal case against the ICC prosecutor and judges, who had previously issued an arrest warrant for Putin and Lvova-Belova. The case was brought under the articles on the criminal liability of a knowingly innocent person and on the preparation of an attack against a representative of a foreign state enjoying international protection in order to complicate international relations.
The Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute declared “unwavering support” for the ICC and called for respect for “its judicial and prosecutorial independence”. US President Joe Biden has called the issuance of an arrest warrant for Putin a “justified decision” and a “very strong stance”.
