Russia’s Investigative Committee has announced the initiation of a criminal case against the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor and judges who issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin on war crimes charges last Friday.
The committee, which is responsible for investigating serious crimes, stated that there were no grounds for Putin’s criminal liability and that heads of state had absolute immunity from the jurisdiction of foreign states.
According to the committee, the ICC prosecutor’s actions constitute crimes under Russian law, as she knowingly accused an innocent person of a crime and “preparing an attack on a representative of a foreign state enjoying international protection, in order to complicate international relations”.
The Russian action is a symbolic expression of opposition to the warrant issued against Putin on Friday, which accused him and his children’s commissioner of deporting children from Ukraine to Russia, a war crime.
The Kremlin has criticized the move, calling it outrageous but legally void, as Russia did not sign the treaty that established the ICC.
