2023-03-17 19:58 update: 2023-03-20, 13:53
Photo: PAP/EPA/ILYA PITALEV / SPUTNIK / KREMLIN POOL MANDATORY CREDIT
The International Criminal Court's (ICC) arrest warrant for Russian leader Vladimir Putin sends an important message to all Russian war criminals, a Polish deputy minister has said.
On Friday the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Putin on war crime charges involving illegal deportations of children from Russian-held parts of Ukraine. A similar warrant was issued for Russia's children's ombudsman Marya Lvova-Byelova
"This is a signal to all Russian war criminals, because if the ICC has decided to pursue even Putin, then it will certainly seek to prosecute... any other Russian war criminal," Piotr Wawrzyk, a deputy foreign minister, told PAP.
"This decision shows, that no-one should feel safe, that no-one will escape responsibility for the crimes committed in Ukraine. Even the (Russian - PAP) leader will be held to account," Wawrzyk added.
Wawrzyk said the present warrant concerned the deportations of Ukrainian children, but noted that the ICC was also planning to investigate other Russian war crimes in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Piotr Mueller, the government spokesperson, told PAP that the ICC's decision confirmed the Russian leadership's responsibility for war crimes in Ukraine. Mueller said Putin should be tried before the court as a war criminal. (PAP)
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