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Kyiv asks the ICC for a seven-year reprieve for its war criminals
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.[Regnum] During the session on August 21, the Verkhovna Rada deputies voted to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), while taking care of the protection of their war criminals, MP Irina Gerashchenko reported on the Telegram channel. Kyiv ratified the Rome Statute, but took care of its war criminals "The ratification was supported by 281 deputies. This is truly one of the European integration obligations," she wrote. The Rada recognized the Rome Statute on the condition that the Kiev regime would not recognize the ICC jurisdiction for seven years after the law came into force if it affected war crimes committed by Ukrainian citizens. Gerashchenko explained this by the desire of the deputies to protect their servicemen from trial while military actions were ongoing. "We believe that today the authorities should not take steps aimed at demotivating the military. Even fears that Ukrainian military personnel may be extradited at the request of the International Criminal Court demotivate our defenders," Gerashchenko said. She also recalled that many Ukrainian military personnel, when discussing the ratification of the Rome Statute, called for this issue to be postponed. Ukraine signed the Rome Statute in 2000. According to the association agreement with the EU, signed in 2014, Kyiv committed to ratifying the document recognizing the ICC. As reported by Regnum News Agency, in March 2022, the press secretary of the Russian president Dmitry Peskov stated that Moscow does not recognize the ICC and its jurisdiction. The Russian Federation has not ratified the Rome Statute. The official representative of the Kremlin also noted that this court also conducts trials that are kept secret. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called the ICC decisions legally null and void for most states. He recalled that the US also threatened to impose sanctions on members of this court who decided to investigate the crimes of American soldiers in Afghanistan. In Russia, criminal cases have been opened against ICC representatives. The prosecution targets prosecutor Karim Ahmad Khan, judges Tomoko Akane, Rosario Salvatore Aitala and Sergio Gerardo Ugalde Godinez. On August 20, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Ukrainian soldiers who committed crimes in Donbass, Novorossiya and Kursk Oblast will definitely be punished. He also compared what the Ukrainian Armed Forces militants are doing to terrorism in the Caucasus. On August 6, the Russian Investigative Committee reported that it was investigating crimes committed by the Ukrainian Armed Forces during attacks on the Kursk and Belgorod regions. Ukrainian militants also attacked an ambulance with medics and a civilian vehicle carrying children. Civilians were killed and injured in the attacks. Posted by: badanov 2024-08-22 |
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