‘Toilet paper’, Russia rubbishes arrest warrant against Putin, threatens military action

Ken Roth, former executive director of Human Rights Watch, said that “the impact of Western sanctions may compel the Kremlin to cooperate with the ICC”.

international

oi-Abhijat Shekhar Azad

Published: Saturday, March 18, 2023, 09:52 [IST]

Russia on International Criminal Court:
International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants against Russian President Vladimir Putin, after which once again the tension has increased all over the world and there is apprehension about whether Russia will increase the pace of attacks in Ukraine. . At the same time, Russia has termed the International Court’s warrant to arrest Putin as nonsense.

Warrant against Putin, Russia reacts

The Kremlin said Friday that the International Criminal Court’s decision to issue an arrest warrant against President Vladimir Putin is legally “void” because Russia is not recognized by the International Court of Justice. Let us tell you that the headquarters of the International Court of Justice is The Hague and if an accused is arrested in any part of the world after the order of the ICC, then he is brought to The Hague to prosecute him. However, Russia is not a member of the International Court of Justice, nor does it recognize the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice. After the decision of the arrest warrant of the International Court of Justice, where the officials of the Russian government are very angry, the opposition members of Russia are appreciating this step. However, Kremlin spokeswoman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that “Russia, like many other countries, does not recognize the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice, so in legal terms the decisions of this court are ‘meaningless'”.

Russia is not a member of ICC

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said ICC decisions have no meaning for Russia. He said in a telegram that “Russia is not a party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, and Russia has no obligations towards this Court.” At the same time, Zakharova, without naming Putin, said that “Russia does not cooperate with this body and as far as we are concerned, the possible ‘prescription’ of arrest from the international court would be legally invalid.” At the same time, former President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev, who is very close and confidant of Vladimir Putin, has compared the International Court’s decision to ‘toilet paper’. Let us tell you that the International Court has issued an arrest warrant against Vladimir Putin for “illegal deportation” of Ukrainian children to Russia. The court also issued a warrant against Russia’s Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, on similar charges. State news agency RIA Novosti quoted Lvova-Belova as saying, “There are sanctions against me from all countries, even Japan, and now arrest warrants…. But we will continue to do our work.”

Russia threatened military action

At the same time, after the order of the International Court, the Investigative Committee of Russia has ordered an inquiry against the ‘Russian citizens’ regarding the order of the court. Investigators said in a statement that “the Russian Investigative Committee will identify those ICC judges who have given illegal decisions against the Russian president.” At the same time, Margarita Simonyan, head of the Russian government’s news channel ‘Russian State Broadcaster’ RT, has said that “Russia can respond militarily to any attempt to arrest the Russian President.” Simonyan said on social media, that “I would like to see the country that tries to arrest Putin following the Hague verdict”. At the same time, the opposition members of Russia have praised this step of ICC. Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky said on social media, “Congratulations to Vladimir Vladimirovich on the arrest in absentia! This is just the first step.” Meanwhile, Vladimir Milov, an aide to jailed Putin critic Alexei Navalny, tweeted “Shut him down!”

Is it possible to arrest Putin? Learn the rules of the International Court, how will the Russian President be arrested