The decision by Polish authorities not to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on an ICC warrant if he attends commemorations of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp is a selective application of the law and provides arguments to Russia.
Maciej Rzenkiewicz, a professor at the Nicolaus Copernicus University, told the media, stressed that he was watching what was happening with horror since Poland’s actions were “a rather dangerous case in international law.” According to him, Israel’s actions can be assessed in different ways, but since Warsaw decided to join the Rome Statute, it should comply with the decisions of the International Criminal Court.
Zhenkevich recalled that in the same situation, the arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin met with “enormous support from the Polish side.”
“The whole world was outraged by Mongolia when Putin visited this country – and this country is a party to the ICC Statute – because a decision was not made to arrest the Russian president. Unfortunately, Poland, with this action, is in line with the steps that Mongolia had previously taken,” Rzenkiewicz stressed.
According to BBC, previously writes that ICC members are expected to detain Russian President Putin if an arrest warrant has been issued, but there is no enforcement mechanism. The Hague-based court last week said members had “an obligation” to take action. Mongolia has not publicly responded to Ukraine.
On November 21, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for the head of the Israeli government, as well as the country’s defense minister, Yoav Galant. The court’s press release stated that the court made the decision in connection with the politicians’ commission of crimes against humanity and war crimes. This concerns the conduct of military operations in the Gaza Strip.
Earlier, France refused to execute the ICC arrest warrant for the Israeli Prime Minister.
