Arrest warrant issued for Vladimir Putin – Prosecutors say they have enough evidence to convict

Could Vladimir Putin end his days behind bars?

On Friday, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for the Russian president, citing alleged trafficking of Ukrainian children to Russia during the latter’s invasion of Ukraine.

The court charged Putin with the “war crime of illegal deportation of the population (children) and illegal transfer of the population (children) from the occupied territories of Ukraine to the Russian Federation” in statement announcing the accusation.

Another Russian official, the country’s commissioner for children’s rights, Maria Alekseevna Lvova-Belova, is accused of the same crimes.

“There are reasonable grounds to believe that each suspect is responsible for the war crime of illegal deportation of the population and illegal transfer of population from the occupied territories of Ukraine to the Russian Federation,” the ICC said of Russian officials.

ICC President Piotr Hofmansky accused the Russian authorities of deporting children from Ukraine during the war in violation of the provisions of the Geneva Convention for the Protection of Minors.

“The judges have reviewed the information and evidence presented by the prosecutor and found that there are credible allegations of alleged crimes against these individuals,” he said.

The representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry rejected the position of the ICC.

“Russia is not a party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and has no obligations under it,” Maria Zakharova said of the developments. New York Times.

Russia stripped off his recognition by a court in The Hague in the Netherlands in 2016.

A US State Department organization has accused Russia of forcibly “adopting” more than 6,000 Ukrainian children since the start of the war. CNBC.

Critics of the invasion have described the policy as an attempt to change the demographic situation in parts of Ukraine in favor of Russia.

European Union spokesman Josep Borrell Fontelles said on Twitter that the EU supports the ICC’s actions against Putin.

“Solution [ICC] The issuance of an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin for the war crime of illegal deportation and transfer of children from Ukraine to Russia is the beginning of the prosecution process,” he said. “There can be no #impunity.”

Solution @IntlCrimCourt issuing an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin for the war crime of unlawful deportation and transfer of children from Ukraine to Russia is the beginning of the prosecution process. We appreciate and support the work of the ICC.

May be #impunity

— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) March 17, 2023

The ICC is dependent on the law enforcement agencies of sovereign states to enforce its own decisions, including arrest warrants.

Putin claimed responsibility for the invasion of Ukraine – an action that Russia presented as a “special military operation” – in speech prior to the conflict.