British lawyer Howard Morrison, who helps the British authorities in the investigation of war crimes, possibly committed during the war in Ukraine, considers the prosecution of Russian President Vladimir Putin to be unlikely. Morrison said this in an interview with BBC.
To the question of the presenter, whether Putin can be charged with war crimes, the lawyer said: “I think to expect this unrealistic. This is an honest answer.”
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The International Criminal Court has begun to investigate possible crimes in Ukraine on March 2. A number of European countries sent their experts to the country to help the investigation. Among them was Morrison – a judge of the International Criminal Court and the International Tribunal in the Former Yugoslavia, recalls BBC
“Putin can be judged in absentia by Ukrainian criminal law. [In the International Criminal Court they can not be sent out in absentia – approx. BBC]. This is not the best option, but better than nothing,” added Morrison.
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, according to him, “we need to have evidence that can be used in court, that he does something (or does not do anything), which is a war crime, or this happens at the level of his subordinates, or it is simple Random actions committed by undisciplined troops. “
“But the responsibility of the highest command on international legislation is a very powerful tool, – the expert says.“ And a rather high bar is set for him. So military commanders who do not achieve discipline are creating a lot of problems in the future. ”
BBC previously wrote that Ukraine and Russia are not participants in the Roman Statute, so there is no jurisdiction of the crime of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. The Council of Security of the UN could transfer the case to the Mus, but Russia has the right to veto, and such a transfer is unrealistic. For the same reason, the Security Council will not be able to take advantage of its own powers to create a special tribunal in Ukraine – like Tribunals in Yugoslavia and Rwanda.
At the end of March, politics, scientists, lawyers and human rights activists created a petition to create a special tribunal to punish those responsible for aggression against Ukraine. She has already gained almost 1.8 million signatures. The signing appeals propose to create a judicial authority that would investigate and prosecute those responsible for aggression against Ukraine, in addition to the already investigation of the International Criminal Court (MUS) in the alleged military crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine.