The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin on Friday. German Justice Minister Marco Buschmann admitted that if the Russian president appeared in Germany, he would be arrested immediately. The leaders of other countries, including the Prime Minister of Spain, Pedro Sanchez, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, Gabrielius Landsbergis, also expressed their satisfaction with the decision of the ICC.
International Criminal Court (MTK) issued on Friday arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin at the request of the prosecutor’s office, considering that there are real grounds for believing that the Russian leader is responsible for war crimes involving the unlawful deportation of children from the occupied territories Ukraine to Russia.
German minister: Berlin would be obliged to arrest Putin
Friday’s decision by the Hague court means that Germany would be obliged to arrest the Russian dictator if he entered Germany’s territory and hand him over to the ICC, said the country’s Justice Minister Marco Buschmann on Saturday in an interview with the “Bild” daily portal.
Vladimir PutinPAP/EPA/MIKHAIL METZEL/SPUTNIK/KREMLIN/POOL
“Bild” also reports that the chancellor, who is visiting Japan Olaf Scholz welcomed the decision of the ICC. “No one is above the law,” Scholz said.
Prime Minister of Spain: no crime will go unpunished
The Spanish prime minister expressed his support for the arrest warrant for Putin on Saturday Pedro Sanchez. “No crime should go unpunished, no crime will go unpunished,” assured the head of government and secretary general of the socialist PSOE during a speech at the party’s Federal Executive Committee in Madrid.
Adamska-Gallant on the arrest warrant for Putin: an extremely important decision, not only in a symbolic dimensionTVN24 BiS
Experts cited by the Spanish portal 20minutos drew attention to the consequences of the arrest warrant for Putin. Some say that he will be forced to give up traveling abroad, and in the future, after the change of regime in Moscow, he could be extradited in exchange for easing the sanctions imposed on Russia.
Lithuania’s foreign minister: history is being made
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Gabrielius Landsbergis described Friday’s decision of the ICC as historic. The Lithuanian politician appealed on Twitter for all war crimes to be investigated and those responsible to be prosecuted.
“History is being made. Putin’s arrest warrant for deporting Ukrainian children sets new precedents. But history will only be complete when all war crimes and crimes of aggression have been investigated and the guilty convicted,” Landsbergis wrote.
Main photo source: PAP/EPA/MIKHAIL METZEL/SPUTNIK/KREMLIN/POOL