IN an unprecedented tit-for-tat move, Russia opened a case against the International Criminal Court (ICC) following its warrant of arrest against Putin.
Russia’s investigative committee says the top prosecutor and judges of the ICC acted illegally.
In a telegram post, the Russian committee said it had opened cases against ICC Prosecutor Karim Ahmad Khan, and Judges Tomoko Akane, Rosario Salvatore Aitala and Sergio Gerardo Ugalde Godinez.
ICC prosecutor khan sent a petition to the pre-trial chamber to obtain warrants of arrest for Putin and Russian Commissioner for Children’s Rights, Maria Lvova-Belova.
To this, Russia’s investigative committee describes the ICC prosecutions as obviously illegal since there are no grounds for criminal liability.
The committee also pointed to the 1973 UN protection of diplomats convention, which grants heads of state absolute immunity from the jurisdiction of foreign countries.
“The 1973 UN protection of diplomats convention is a resolution that grants heads of state absolute immunity from the jurisdiction of foreign countries,” HL-1973 UN Protection of Diplomats Convention.
The committee considers Khan’s actions as a crime under Russian law. They also believe that Khan “knowingly bringing an innocent person to criminal liability, combined with unlawfully accusing a person of committing a grave or especially grave crime.”
“ICC Prosecutor Kharim Ahmad Khan is] knowingly bringing an innocent person to criminal liability, combined with unlawfully accusing a person of committing a grave or especially grave crime,” Russian Investigative Committee.
Khan is also charged with preparing an attack on a foreign state representative with the intention of complicating international relations.
The 3 judges, on the other hand, are accused of attacking a representative of a foreign state and for attempting a deliberately unlawful detention.
