A thunderbolt in The Hague (Netherlands). Around 4pm, Friday 17th March, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against Vladimir Putin and his Children’s Rights
Commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, for their alleged responsibility in the deportation of Ukrainian children. Ukraine has identified 16,221 children forcibly transferred to Russia. However, tens of thousands of others are believed to have been deported to Crimea and at least 57 regions of the Russian Federation. What consequences could this decision have for Vladimir Putin?
The risk of arrest in 123 countries?
Practically speaking, if the Russian president visits one of the 123 member countries of the International Criminal Court, he would risk being arrested. “I don’t think it will keep him up at night right now (…) but today he is a man who, like an ordinary criminal or drug trafficker, could be apprehended and brought before an international criminal court,” said Emmanuel Daoud, a lawyer specializing in international criminal law. Vladimir Putin joins Muammar Gaddafi, Laurent Gbagbo and Sudanese Omar al-Bashir as former presidents subjected to such measures.
