Russia’s Investigative Committee will place on the wanted list several ICC judges who have issued an international arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin.
The showdown between Moscow and the International Criminal Court (ICC) is intensifying. While the body had issued an international arrest warrant against President Vladimir Putin, Russian justice is preparing to respond by placing the judges responsible for this decision on the list of wanted persons. This was explained by the chairman of the committee Aleksandr Bastrykine.
“The Investigative Committee very quickly opened a criminal case against the President and three judges who actively influenced the adoption of this decision. We will soon put them on the wanted list,” he said. .
At the end of March, Moscow had already announced that it was opening a criminal investigation against ICC magistrates.
An increasingly denigrated institution
In mid-March, the ICC had issued an arrest warrant against Vladimir Putin, accusing him of “alleged war crime of the deportation of children” from Ukraine to Russia. This decision has also provoked the indignation of several countries, in particularSouth Africawhich is due to host the BRICS summit in August and would like to see the Russian leader participate in the proceedings.
The African National Congress (ANC), the ruling party in South Africa, had even waved the threat of a withdrawal from the ICC at the end of April, before finally backpedaling. As a member of the ICC, the country would indeed be required to arrest Vladimir Putin if he appeared on its territory. Pretoria is now exploring different avenues to allow Vladimir Putin to take part in the summit, for example considering a mixed event, both online and face-to-face.
Other voices were heard to criticize the decision of the CPI. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said the arrest warrant issued against the Russian leader would only “complicate efforts to find a peaceful solution in Ukraine”.
Some African countries such as Guinea have for their part declared that Vladimir Putin remains welcome and could go to their territory, despite this international arrest warrant.