ICC chief prosecutor says it’s possible Putin could be tried for alleged crimes at some point

International Criminal CourtIt operates independently, is based in The Hague, Netherlands, and was created by a treaty called the Rome Statute that was first brought before the United Nations.

Most countries on Earth – 123 of them – are party to the treaty, but there are some notable exceptions, including Russia, as well as the US, Ukraine and China.

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The ICC is supposed to be the court of “last resort” and should not replace a country’s judicial system. The court, which has 18 judges serving nine-year terms, tries four types of crimes: genocide, crimes against humanity, crimes of aggression and war crimes.

Putin Arrest Warrant: ICC on Friday issued arrest Warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Commissioner for Children’s Rights Maria Lvova-Belova for an alleged plan to send Ukrainian children to Russia.

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The court said that “there are reasonable grounds for believing that mr putin bears personal criminal responsibility” for the alleged crimes, for having committed them directly with others, and for “his failure to properly exercise control over civilian and military subordinates who committed the acts”.

Report of Ukrainian children in Russia: The Ukrainian government says that many missing children have been forcibly taken to Russia. The Russian government does not refuse to take Ukrainian children and have them adopted by Russian families. a focal point of publicity,

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Some children have ended up thousands of miles away from Ukraine and across multiple time zones. According to Lvova-Belova’s office, Ukrainian children have been sent to live in institutions and with foster families in 19 different Russian regions, including Novosibirsk, Omsk and the Tyumen region in Siberia and Murmansk in the Arctic.

In April 2022, Lvova-Belova’s office said that about 600 children from Ukraine were placed in orphanages in Kursk and Nizhny Novgorod before being sent to live with families in the Moscow region. According to the Moscow regional governor, as of mid-October, 800 children from Ukraine’s eastern Donbass region were living in the Moscow region, many with families.

UN report on alleged war crimes: The UN said in a report on Thursday that war crimes committed by Russia included “attacks on civilians and energy-related infrastructure, willful killings, unlawful imprisonment, torture, rape and other sexual violence, as well as the illegal transfer and deportation of children.” Are included.”

So, will Putin really be arrested?: Probably not.

Any person accused of a crime within the court’s jurisdiction, which includes countries that are members of the ICC, can be prosecuted. The court tries people, not countries, and focuses on those who bear the most responsibility: leaders and officials. While Ukraine is not a member of the court, it has previously accepted its jurisdiction.

ICC does not test in absentia, So Putin must either be handed over to Russia or arrested outside Russia. It doesn’t seem so.

CNN’s Editorial Research Department contributed to this post.