The Pre-Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court (“ICC”) issued arrest warrants for two individuals in the context of the situation in Ukraine: “Mr. Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and Ms. Maria Alekseevna Lvova-Belova.” We are talking about the President of the Russian Federation and the Commissioner for Children’s Rights.
As stated in the court decision, “Mr. Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, born October 7, 1952, President of the Russian Federation, is allegedly responsible for the war crime of the illegal deportation of the population (children) and the illegal transfer of the population (children) from the occupied territories of Ukraine to territory of the Russian Federation…. The crimes were allegedly committed in the occupied territory of Ukraine since at least February 24, 2022. reasonable grounds to believe that Mr. Putin bears individual criminal responsibility for the above crimes, for the acts committed directly, jointly with, and/or through others… for his failure to adequately supervise the civilian and military subordinates who committed the acts …
Pre-Trial Chamber II found, based on the prosecution’s statement dated 22 February 2023, that 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 Chamber found that the warrants were secret to protect victims and witnesses and to ensure the security of the investigation. However, bearing in mind that the criminal conduct at issue in the present situation is believed to be ongoing and that informing the public of warrants may help prevent further crime, the Chamber considered that it would be in the interests of justice to authorize the Registry to publicly disclose the existence of warrants, the names of suspects, in respect of which warrants have been issued, and the methods of liability established by the Chamber.
The above-mentioned arrest warrants were issued based on applications filed by the prosecutor’s office on February 22, 2023.”
“ВЧК ОГПУ”
