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Ariana Baio
Mar 17, 2023
Arrest warrant issued for Vladimir Putin over ‘war crimes’ in Ukraine
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Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?
On Friday, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The ICC is alleging that Putin, along with Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, the children’s rights commission for Putin, were involved in abducting children from Ukraine.
“For the war crime of unlawful deportation of population (children) and that of unlaw transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation,” a press release from ICC says.
Although the warrants are “secret” to protect victims and witnesses, the ICC said the pre-trial chamber agreed to make the public aware of the warrants to possibly prevent “further commission of crimes.”
And while the public was definitely interested to learn about it, many felt the ICC’s arrest warrant was likely not going to make an impact.
On Twitter people joked about the lack of impact the ICC’s arrest warrant would likely have on the Russian President.
Putin is notoriously well protected by nearly every arm of Russia’s government and military. Any threat to him often does not end well. He also does not respond well to other countries calling him or Russia out for their actions.
Some people joked about how the ICC planned to “serve” Putin with the arrest warrant.
The ICC is a treaty between 123 countries that investigates and prosecutes individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression.
However, Russia is not a part of the ICC and therefore does not believe it needs to comply with the arrest warrant.
Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation said in a translated statement, “Russia is not a participant of the Rome statute of the International Criminal Court and bears no obligations on it.”
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