The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has once again called for the creation of a special court to judge Russia’s war crimes, on the occasion of the official delivery, this Wednesday, of the Sakharov Prize to the Ukrainian people.
“We cannot wait for the end of the war to put everyone who started this war on trial,” said the Ukrainian leader, speaking by video link in the European Parliament chamber in Strasbourg.
In his speech accepting the prize, received with a standing ovation from the MEPs, the Ukrainian president stressed that the Russian aggression is aimed at depriving Europe of freedom and insisted that victory over Moscow must guarantee that it cannot be put in practice no “genocidal policy against the Ukrainian people”. applied in the future.
Zelensky took the opportunity to request the creation of a special court to judge war crimes committed by Russian forces on Ukrainian territory, which are being investigated by various international organizations, as well as by national judicial authorities.
“We must act now. We cannot wait for the end of the war to bring to justice all those who have transgressed. (…) It will be the most effective protection of freedom, human rights, the rule of law and other rights common”. values that are present in this Parliament through the Sakharov Prize”, argued Zelensky.
The Ukrainian president also called for a “new security architecture”, in which the international community organizes itself to prevent the repetition of acts of aggression between countries.
“Ukraine and Europe must achieve a new security architecture to guarantee international peace and the rule of law. It is part of our moral obligation,” Zelensky argued.
In response to the intervention of the Ukrainian leader, the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, highlighted the courage and sacrifices of the Ukrainian people, assuring that the countries of the community will continue on kyiv’s side to resist Russian aggression.
“Europe’s message was clear: we stand with Ukraine. We will not look the other way. The Ukrainian people are waging not just a war for independence, but a war of values. The values that underpin our life in the European Union, which we give given,” Metsola said.
The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought is awarded annually by the European Parliament.
The prize was created in 1988 to honor people and organizations that defend human rights and fundamental freedoms and bears the name of the physicist and Soviet political dissident Andrei Sakharov, and consists of a diploma and a prize worth 50,000 euros.
In 2021, Parliament awarded the prize to Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
Source: TSF
