The member states of the International Criminal Court (ICC) condemned today, Saturday, Russia's listing of the court's chief prosecutor and several judges as wanted. They regarded this action as extremely concerning and unfortunate. The Russian news agency "TASS" reported yesterday, citing a database from the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, that the ministry had placed British ICC prosecutor Karim Khan on its wanted list.
The presidency of the Assembly of States Parties to the ICC, which oversees the court's administration, stated in a release that they "regret these provocative actions and unacceptable attempts to undermine the court's jurisdiction to investigate the most serious international crimes and impose penalties on their perpetrators and prevent their commission."
The Hague-based court issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin in March, accusing him of committing a war crime related to the illegal deportation of children from Ukraine. The court indicated that there are reasonable grounds to believe that both Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, the Russian children's rights commissioner, bear personal criminal responsibility for these actions.
In a separate statement today, the court expressed that it "finds these measures unacceptable. The court will continue to exercise, without any sense of deterrence, its legitimate jurisdiction to ensure accountability for the most serious crimes that concern the entire international community." The statements were issued today by the presidency of the Assembly of States Parties to the ICC, which consists of 123 members.
