Russia hits back at ICC over Putin’s arrest warrant – POLITICO

Russia’s highest investigative body announced on Monday that it had opened a “criminal” case against the prosecutor and judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The move is part of a concerted effort by Moscow to intimidate the Dutch court, which on Friday issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for his role in the ‘illegal’ forced evictions of Ukrainian children. to Russia.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev earlier on Monday threatened to target The Hague court with missile strikes.

“It is quite possible to imagine a hypersonic missile fired from the North Sea from a Russian ship at the courthouse in The Hague. Everyone walks under God and rockets. Look carefully at the sky…”, a- he declared.

Russia has filed criminal charges against prosecutor Karim Ahmad Khan and judges Tomoko Akane, Rosario Salvatore Aitala and Sergio Gerardo Ugalde Godínez on the grounds that they allegedly committed “signs of crimes” under Russian law. This includes knowingly accusing an innocent person of a crime in Khan’s case and deliberately unlawful detention in the case of the judges.

The justice officials are also suspected of “preparing an attack against a representative of a foreign state enjoying international protection, with the aim of complicating international relations”. Moscow has previously said it does not recognize the authority of the ICC.

Putin and Russia’s children’s rights commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, were hit with the ICC’s arrest warrant last week, which will severely limit Putin’s potential range of diplomatic visits.