The EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas has said that a coalition of 38 countries and European Union members have said they’ve made “significant progress” establishing a special tribunal.
Euronews reported that the special tribunal will prosecute the Russian leadership and Kallas warned, “No one from Russia and no one from Russia’s leadership is untouchable.”
The tribunal will be operating in the Council of Europe and it will focus on Russia’s military and political leadership, including Vladimir Putin.
Council of Europe Secretary General Alain Berset said, “To wait is not an option. We must really act as fast as possible. And we will do the best way to try to finish the work this year.”
Legal teams are drafting a statute which will define the special tribunal’s jurisdiction, and the document will be signed in April.
Thousands of war crimes have been documented by the Ukrainian authorities, with forced deportations, torture, attacks on civilians, hospitals and other medical institutions including cultural sites.
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The International Criminal Court (ICC) has already issued international arrests warrants for Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova on 17 March 2023, who oversaw the forced illegal deportations of Ukrainian children to Russia.
The ICC also issued arrest warrants for Valery Gerasimov and the Sergei Shoigu for war crimes.
The war crimes committed by Shoigu and Gerasimov took place between 10 October 2022 until 9 March 2023 as they are responsible for missile attacks on civilian infrastructure and the energy sector which affected tens of thousands of Ukrainians during the freezing winter months.
Last June the Russian Security Council said the ICC’s decision is “part of the hybrid war of the West against the Russian Federation.”
Last September, Tass reported that the Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev warned the ICC to think twice before they execute the warrant on Putin and declared the arrest warrant is “legally null and void.”
Medvedev wrote on Telegram commenting on the EU’s statement regarding Putin’s visit to Mongolia, “The Mongolians have ignored the ICC and the European politicians.
“If I were a judge or prosecutor of this so-called court, I would be afraid that some fool would carry out their illegal order. In that case, their lives would be worth no more than that <…> piece of paper.”
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