Today in Brussels, the European Parliament voted by a majority (472/19) to create a tribunal for the state that committed an unprovoked military attack on Ukraine. By law, the prosecution for the crime of military aggression is transferred to the state's leadership, in the case of Russia — Putin.
Since the top leadership of any country is under international immunity from foreign criminal jurisdiction, Putin's immunity will be lifted. Currently, this requires joint international efforts because Russia, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, will block any decisions.
The tribunal will be created on the model of the Nuremberg Tribunal, which punished the nazis. Repeats of the NT, when the leadership of Yugoslavia and Rwanda were brought to justice, are known to history. Not only Putin and the top military leadership of Russia will be put on trial, but also Lukashenko because Ukraine is being attacked from the territory of Belarus. The relevant resolution has been concluded.
Next — the creation of a legal basis for the tribunal — the international prosecutor's office to investigate Russian aggression against Ukraine. As European Commissioner for justice Didier Reynders said, the investigation mechanism will be the first step to end impunity for Russian war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. Currently, negotiations on this issue are underway between Kyiv, Eurojust and the International Criminal Court.
At this stage, Ukraine has a great responsibility — it must ratify the Rome Statute of the ICC and the amendments regarding the crime of aggression. Only then will the ICC have jurisdiction over crimes committed by Russia against Ukraine since 2013.
"This would be an important external and internal signal from Kyiv," Didier Reynders.
We remind you that Russia has not ratified the Rome Statute of the ISS, and in general, after the annexation of Crimea, the aggressor country withdrew from the ICC.
Next — reparations. Due to the gravity of the crime, the assets of the central bank of Russia will be denied the protection of sovereign asset immunity. The funds will be transferred to Ukraine instead of reparations. This will be a powerful symbol that no crime will go unpunished, and Russia under Putin will be an exile.
"Paradoxically, Russia itself needs such a tribunal. It is important to stop the imperialist narrative in its society and for the future generations of this country to put an end to Russian imperialist militarism," Latvian MP Roberts Zile.
The creation of a tribunal against Russia "will fill a big gap in the structure of international criminal justice," says Reynders, because Russian criminals cannot be brought to justice due to numerous immunities. But work on creating a tribunal will begin immediately.
"In the interests of world security and the international order based on rules, it cannot remain unanswered by the international community," a fragment of the resolution.
