The European Union (EU) on Thursday condemned measures taken by Moscow against the judges and the Attorney General of the International Criminal Court (ICC) involved in the arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes.
The Kremlin (Russian Presidency) – in retaliation to the arrest warrant issued by the ICC against Putin and his Commissioner for the Rights of the Child, Maria Alekseevna Lvova-Belova, for their alleged involvement in abductions and deportations of Ukrainian children to Russia – passed sanctions against judges and ICC Attorney General Karim Khan, while former President Dimitri Medvedev issued threats against the court.
According to a statement from the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, the EU “deplores the measures announced by Russia against the ICC prosecutor and judges”, while condemning “the unlawful threats” to use force against the ICC.
“Any threat of retaliation against those working at the ICC is unacceptable,” reads the statement, underlining the EU’s full support for the institution and the European commitment to defend the court.
In an interview released in Moscow on Thursday, Medvedev (who served as head of state between 2008 and 2012) stressed that a possible arrest “of the current head of a nuclear state” in another area is considered “a declaration of war on the Russian Federation” . “.
Russia on Monday announced the opening of a criminal investigation against the Attorney General and three ICC judges after that court issued an arrest warrant against Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova.
In a statement on Wednesday, the ICC’s legislative body deplored “these attempts to hinder international efforts aimed at ensuring accountability for acts prohibited by general international law” and “also reiterated its full confidence in the court.” .
The ICC’s Attorney General, British Karim Khan, who has been investigating possible war crimes or crimes against humanity during the Russian offensive in Ukraine launched on 24 February 2022 for more than a year, stated that the number of alleged deportations of Ukrainian children to Russia or territories it controls “reached in the thousands”.
Source: DN
