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The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants against Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian commissioner for children’s rights, Maria Lvova-Belova.
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Arrest warrants were issued on 17 March for the high-profile officials on allegations of the unlawful deportation of population (children) from Ukraine into Russia in February 2022.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) traditionally investigates and tries individuals for crimes involving the international community such as genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the crimes of aggression.
An ICC spokesperson said there are reasonable grounds to believe that Vladimir Putin bears individual criminal responsibility for committing the acts directly, jointly with others or through others or by failure to exercise control properly over civilian and military subordinates who committed the acts.
It also alleges there are reasonable grounds to believe Maria Lvova-Belova also bears individual criminal responsibility for acts directly, jointly with others or through others in relation to the crimes.
“The chamber considered that the warrants are secret in order to protect victims and witnesses and also to safeguard the investigation,” the ICC spokesperson said.
“Nevertheless, mindful that the conduct addressed in the present situation is allegedly ongoing, and that the public awareness of the warrants may contribute to the prevention of the further commission of crimes, the chamber considered that it is in the interests of justice to authorise the registry to publicly disclose the existence of the warrants, the name of the suspects, the crimes for which the warrants are issued, and the modes of liability as established by the chamber.
“The abovementioned warrants of arrests were issued pursuant to the applications submitted by the prosecution on 22 February 2023.”
