Putin puts ICC judge on wanted list in retaliation for arrest warrant

The Russian government has added the name of an International Criminal Court judge to its wanted list. 

Judge Tomoko Akane was added to Russia’s wanted list alongside fellow ICC Judge Rosario Salvatore Aitala, according to state media. Aitala was added to the list last month.

The database does not offer a crime or accusation to justify the two legal experts’ inclusion.

INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT ISSUES PUTIN ARREST WARRANT OVER CHILD DEPORTATIONS FROM UKRAINE

In March, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin on charges of child abduction in Ukraine.

The ICC wrote that Putin “is allegedly responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of population (children) and that of unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation.”

A warrant was also issued for Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, commissioner for children’s rights in the Office of the President of the Russian Federation, after the ICC declared there are “reasonable grounds to believe that each suspect bears responsibility for the war crime of unlawful deportation of population and that of unlawful transfer of population from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation, in prejudice of Ukrainian children.”

SOUTH AFRICA LOOKS TO GRANT PUTIN DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY FOR BRICS SUMMIT DESPITE OUTSTANDING ICC ARREST WARRANT

While the court was established as an international judicial body with the signing of the Rome Treaty of 1998, the ICC began actual operations in 2002 based in The Hague, Netherlands. 

To date, 123 countries have ratified the treaty and approved the authority of the court in international prosecution.

The court’s function is to prosecute perpetrators of the worst crimes, including genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. It has global jurisdiction and is intended as a last resort when national governments are unable or outright refuse to prosecute.

The U.S. is not a member of the ICC and neither assists nor acknowledges the authority of the judicial body.