The International Criminal Court of The Hague has issued international arrest warrants for the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, as well as the Commissioner for Children's Rights, Maria Lviv-Belova.
This is stated in ISS press release on Friday, March 17. They explained there that Putin and Lviv-Belov are suspected of illegally deporting the population and children from the territory of Ukraine to Russia.
"Today, March 17, 2023, the Pre-Trial Chamber of the II International Criminal Court ("ICC" or "Court") issued arrest warrants for two persons in the context of the situation in Ukraine: Mr. Volodymyr Volodymyrovych Putin and Ms. Maria Oleksiivna. Lviv-Belov", the message says.
In the message of the International Criminal Court, it is noted that "there are reasonable grounds to believe that Putin bears individual criminal responsibility for the above-mentioned crimes" - due to direct participation, actions jointly with other people, or due to the inability to exercise proper control over civilian and military subordinates who committed the actions or allowed them to be committed.
The reason for issuing the warrant for the arrest of Maria Lvova-Belova, who has been the Russian Federation Commissioner for Children's Rights since 2021, is approximately the same, with the exception of the clause about "inability to exercise proper control over military subordinates."
After international judges issue an arrest warrant for Putin, he will be required to be arrested in each of the 123 countries that are parties to the Rome Statute.
Prosecutor General of Ukraine Andriy Kostin also confirmed the issuance of the warrant to Putin.
"This means that outside of Russia, Putin must be arrested and brought to court. And world leaders will think three times before shaking his hand or sitting down at the negotiating table with him," he said in Telegram.
