Kevin Jon Heller, professor of international law at the University of Copenhagen, explained the prospects for the detention of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin on a warrant from the International Criminal Court.
This is a very important event. It is not every day that an incumbent head of state is accused by an international court. But, of course, the prospects of Putin being detained in the near future are very small, Professor Heller said in a BBC commentary.
He doubts that Putin will leave Russia in the near future, and if he does make international trips, then to those countries that will not extradite him to an international court.
From a legal point of view, any member country of the ISS is obliged to comply with this decision. And if the paths come to the territory of this country, they must arrest him and hand him over to the court. But in fact, states do not always do this. For example, serious charges were brought against the President of Sudan, and after that he visited several countries that are members of the ISS, and not one of them arrested him. So an arrest warrant is not a guarantee that Putin will be handed over to the ISS. But from a legal point of view, countries are obliged to do this, says Heller.
Recall that the judges of the International Criminal Court suspect Putin of a war crime – the illegal deportation of the population, including children.
To this day, the Rome Statute of the ISS has been signed and ratified by 122 states of the world. They are obliged to strictly comply with the decisions of the court. Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova can be arrested on the territory of countries that have ratified the Rome Charter.
The Rome Statute is the main document of the work of the International Criminal Court in The Hague. 31 states have signed but not ratified it. Among them are Israel, Armenia, the USA and Ukraine. Moscow has repeatedly denied accusations that its troops committed atrocities during the year-long invasion of its neighbor.
The warrants were issued on February 22 and are secret to protect the victims and witnesses, but the ISS decided to make public their very existence and the names of the perpetrators for public awareness.
Now the Russian president has the official status of a suspect in an international crime – the illegal deportation and displacement of Ukrainian children.
To date, 16,226 children are known to have been deported, but the numbers may be higher, Ombudsman Dmitry Lubinets said.
Source: Racurs
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