The issuing of the arrest warrant for the President of Russia Vladimir Putin eliminated any possibility of a political and legal agreement as the crimes were committed and those who committed them must answer for this, political pundit Igor Boțan stated in a public debate hosted by IPN News Agency.
“If the Court issued an arrest warrant, it means that all the steps up to such a moment were taken. We see that all the envisioned stages were covered and we can presume that President Vladimir Putin, against whom an arrest warrant was issued and who is to be brought before the court, should be classed as a defendant,” stated the permanent expert of IPN’s project.
Igor Boțan noted the crime of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression have no statute of limitations and it is impossible to reach a deal for avoiding the trial. The person must appear before the court and can avoid this only if he/she passes away.
Asked who can arrest today Vladimir Putin, the expert said this can be done by the 123 states that signed and ratified the Rome Statute, if they have such a possibility.
“The Rome Statute provides that if the alleged crimes were committed on the territory of a state that recognizes the jurisdiction, those who committed the crimes, either they are citizens of that country or of another country, are liable to punishment. Ukraine signed, but hasn’t yet ratified the Rome Statute. But an article of this Statute stipulates exceptions when the Court has competence if the crimes are committed on the territory of the state that recognizes the competence of the Court and it does not matter whether these are Ukrainian citizens or citizens of another state, in this case of Russia. A decision was taken and only how the arrest warrant will be executed is the problem,” stated Igor Boțan.
He said that the trial will be long and this case will be a reference case for international war. “It is for the first time in history that a country that is a member of the UN Security Council with the veto right finds itself in such a situation. All those who commented on this case noted that some of the best law experts work at this Court and for them it is a matter of honor for this case to set precedents that will be later applied in international law,” said the expert, noting the Ukrainian jurists did a huge work.
The 123 countries that that signed and ratified the Rome Statute are obliged to take measures for the one against whom the arrest warrant was issued to be arrested and brought before this Court. “Things are very clear here,” noted Igor Boțan.
The public debate entitled “Arrest warrant for Putin: effects for Russia, Ukraine, Moldova and Europe?” was the 278th installment of IPN’s project “Developing Political Culture through Public Debates” that is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation of Germany.
