Russia's Investigative Committee to Probe Claims of ICC Warrant for Putin's Arrest
Date
3/20/2023 8:16:56 AM
(MENAFN) Russia's Investigative Committee has announced that it will investigate the claims made by a senior German official that Berlin will enforce the International Criminal Court's (ICC) arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin if he enters Germany. The committee's chairman, Aleksandr Bastrykin, issued instructions to "give a required legal assessment of the German Justice minister's statements about the arrest of Russian citizens." In response, Russia's ambassador to Germany, Sergey Nechayev, expressed deep concern, describing the ICC demands as "illegal" and serving as further proof of Germany's desire for escalation.
The ICC issued warrants for Putin and a Russian official, Maria Lvova-Belova, accusing them of involvement in the "unlawful deportation" of children "from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation." However, Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov noted that the court is not recognized in Russia, rendering the warrants "null and void from the legal standpoint." In contrast, German Justice Minister Marco Buschmann argued that the ICC warrant was an "important signal of determination." He stated that Berlin would be required to apprehend Putin and hand him over to the court should he enter Germany.
The ICC decision was welcomed by Ukraine, but not by Washington or Moscow, both of which do not recognize the court's jurisdiction. US President Joe Biden claimed that the ICC warrant was "justified," while the Russian Embassy in the US suggested that Biden's position on the matter was "schizophrenic." The Investigative Committee's probe into the claims of the ICC warrant for Putin's arrest is likely to further strain the already tense relations between Russia and the West.
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