Ukraine’s top prosecutor said he received information indicating Russian President Vladimir Putin may attend the G20 summit in Brazil next month and called on authorities there to execute a warrant for his arrest should he appear.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague issued an arrest warrant for Putin in March 2023, about a year after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, charging him with the war crime of kidnapping children from Ukraine.
Russia denies the war crimes charges and the Kremlin dismissed the ICC warrant as “null and void”.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, asked whether a decision has been made on whether Putin will attend the meeting of the world’s top 20 economies, told reporters on Monday: “No. When a decision is made, we will let you know.”
Ukraine’s attorney general Andriy Kostin told Reuters in an interview that “it is important for the international community to stand together and hold Putin accountable.”
Due to “information that Putin may attend the G20 summit in Brazil, I would like to reiterate that it is the duty of the Brazilian authorities as a member state of the Rome Statute to arrest him if he dares to visit,” Kostin said. , referring to the treaty that established the ICC.
“I really hope that Brazil will arrest him, confirming its status as a democracy and the rule of law,” he said.
Failure to do so risks setting a precedent whereby leaders accused of crimes can travel with impunity, he said.
Brazil sent Putin a formal invitation to the November 18-19 G20 meetings in Rio de Janeiro, but received no indication that he intended to attend, according to two Brazilian government officials.
The ICC prosecutor’s office declined to comment.
A spokesman for the court reiterated that it relies on member states and other partners to enforce its rulings, including arrest warrants. Member states “have an obligation to cooperate in accordance” with the court’s founding treaty, spokesman Fadi El-Abdallah said.
Among the six Russian officials for whom the ICC has issued arrest warrants are children’s rights commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova, former defense minister Sergei Shoigu, Viktor Sokolov and Sergei Kobilas, who are accused of directing the attacks on civilians.
Despite the ICC’s arrest warrant, Putin paid an official visit to Mongolia in September, whose decision not to arrest him was criticized by Ukraine as an affront to international legitimacy.
Meanwhile last year, Putin did not attend the BRICS meeting in South Africa but participated online.
The ICC, with its 14 member states, was established in 2002 to prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and the crime of aggression when member states are unwilling or unable to do so themselves.
Read also:
Netherlands: Ex-daughter-in-law of Islamic State fighter on trial for crimes against Yazidis
Iran puts a “brake” on indirect talks with the US
Gaza: Israeli forces pass through fire and iron in Jabaliya in the north
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)
{if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?
n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};
if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;
n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;
t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,’script’,
‘
fbq(‘init’, ‘726515947549353’);
fbq(‘track’, ‘PageView’);
#Ukraine #asks #Brazil #arrest #Putin #ICC #warrant #G20
