Vladimir Putin’s arrest warrant is ‘first shot’ in potentially substantial indictment against him
An arrest warrant issued against Russian President Vladimir Putin is the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) “first shot” in what could be a substantial indictment against him, Ukraine’s leading lawyer has said.
The intergovernmental group – based at The Hague – has accused Mr Putin of being responsible for the abduction of children from Ukraine.
An arrest warrant was also issued for Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, Russia‘s commissioner for children, on similar allegations of war crimes.
Speaking to Sky News, the lead lawyer for the government of Ukraine, Ben Emmerson, said he believes there are two reasons why the arrest warrant against Mr Putin has been issued now.
He said the immediate timing seems to have been the decision by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights at the United Nations in Geneva “to publish a report detailing what the judges believe to be Russian war crimes committed in Ukraine – including the allegations of the forced transfer of children from Ukraine into Russia as a war crime”.
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Vladmir Putin visits Crimea
Mr Emmerson said the other dimension to the timing of the arrest warrant is “sometimes when indictments are issued, they are sealed”.
“In other words, they’re not made public. But increasingly, we have seen indictments being issued against leaders during an ongoing conflict that happened in relation to the indictment against General Gaddafi, for example, during the Libyan uprising.”
Putin at risk of ‘being held accountable’
He said that it has to be recognised that issuing an indictment against a sitting head of state in the midst of an armed conflict is to “some extent affecting the conduct or aimed to affect the conduct of those involved”.
“In other words, this is clearly the first shot in what might be eventually a much more substantial indictment against President Putin,” said Mr Emmerson.
He went on to say that he believes the main aim is to make Mr Putin and those around him aware of “the very real risk that exists of being held accountable criminally in due course”.
On whether he thinks the narrow charges were a strategic move by the ICC, he said that Karim Khan, the head prosecutor at the International Criminal Court, has made it clear in the role that he intends to act “not on a political basis, but on the basis of prosecutable cases”.
“In other words, he would choose cases that he was very confident could be won and won with evidential support,” said Mr Emmerson.
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How Russia ‘stole’ Ukrainian kids
Russian leadership makes ‘erratic and belligerent moves’
Mr Emmerson suspects that the reason why this particular charge has been selected in the indictment against Mr Putin is that “proving his responsibility for this and indeed the responsibility of the children’s commissioner is straightforward”.
Asked whether the arrest warrant could offer some kind of hope for Ukrainian families getting their children back, Mr Emmerson said that he is always sceptical because “one thing that seems reasonably clear is that [Russian authorities] are often very unpredictable”.
“But that said, these children have been unlawfully taken and in breach of humanitarian law. They have been effectively kidnapped. It is not the first time Russia has done this – it did this during the 2014 war in Donbas.”
He added that “when the situation of lawlessness is as it is at the moment, and the Russian troops and authorities and indeed the Russian leadership are behaving with increasingly erratic and belligerent moves, everything remains unpredictable”.
‘Putin clearly committed war crimes’
The arrest warrant comes after US President Joe Biden described the ICC’s decision to issue it as “justified”.
The Kremlin said Russia, which does not recognise the ICC, found the questions raised by the court “outrageous and unacceptable”.
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But Mr Biden, speaking at a news conference on Friday, said: “He’s [Putin] clearly committed war crimes.
“I think it’s justified [the warrant]. But the question is – it’s not recognised internationally by us either. But I think it makes a very strong point.”
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Putin ‘clearly committed war crimes’
Though both Russia and the US were once signatories to the Rome Statute – the treaty that established the ICC – the US has never ratified the agreement, while Russia withdrew after the court’s criticism of its 2014 annexation of Crimea.
Alongside the ICC arrest warrant, the US has separately concluded that Russian forces have committed war crimes in Ukraine.
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“There is no doubt that Russia is committing war crimes and atrocities [in] Ukraine, and we have been clear that those responsible must be held accountable,” a State Department spokesperson said.
Russia said the ICC’s warrants were “null and void” as it does not recognise the court.
Meanwhile, Ms Lvova-Belova said her arrest warrant validated her work “helping the children of our country”.
The allegations come as Russia prepares to celebrate the ninth anniversary of its 2014 annexation of Crimea, which Mr Putin is expected to mark with a “patriotic” rally at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium this weekend.
An aid group is to resume its work in Gaza four weeks after suspending operations following the killing of seven workers.
World Central Kitchen (WCK) says it will restart operations in the besieged strip on Monday, delivering food to “address widespread hunger”, including in the north.
It comes following the killing of the WCK workers in an Israeli military strike on 1 April.
Three British nationals, who were part of WCK’s security team, an Australian, a Polish national, an American-Canadian dual citizen, and a Palestinian, were killed in the strike.
An Israeli investigation found that incorrect assumptions, decision-making mistakes and violations of the rules of engagement had resulted in their deaths.
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Pic: World Central Kitchen
WCK suspended its operations in Gaza following their deaths. They had previously distributed more than 43 million meals in Gaza and accounted for more than 60% of all international non-governmental aid.
Erin Gore, the group’s chief executive, said the humanitarian situation in Gaza “remained dire”.
“We are restarting our operation with the same energy, dignity, and focus on feeding as many people as possible,” she said.
“We will continue to get as much food into Gaza, including northern Gaza, as possible – by land, air, or sea.”
She said despite assurances by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) of changes to their rules of operations in the wake of the workers’ deaths, their staff still faced the threat of being threatened or killed.
The damaged vehicle where employees from the World Central Kitchen, including foreigners, were killed. Pic: Reuters
“We have been forced to make a decision: Stop feeding altogether during one of the worst hunger crises ever, ending our operation that accounted for 62% of all International non-governmental-organisation (NGO) aid, or keep feeding knowing that aid, aid workers and civilians are being intimidated and killed,” Ms Gore said.
“These are the hardest conversations, and we have considered all perspectives when deliberating.
“Ultimately, we decided we must keep feeding, continuing our mission of showing up to provide food to people during the toughest of times.”
Strikes on Rafah and Blinken’s visit
It comes as medics said 13 people had been killed in Israeli airstrikes on three houses in the southern city of Rafah on Monday.
The strikes on Rafah, where over a million people are sheltering from months of Israeli bombardment, came hours before Egypt was expected to host leaders of Hamas to discuss prospects for a ceasefire agreement with Israel.
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On Sunday, Hamas officials said a delegation, led by Khalil al Hayya, the group’s deputy Gaza chief, would discuss a ceasefire proposal handed by Hamas to mediators from Qatar and Egypt, as well as Israel’s response.
Mediators, backed by the US, have stepped up their efforts to conclude a deal amid threats by Israel to invade Rafah.
Meanwhile, US secretary of state Antony Blinken is beginning his seventh diplomatic mission to the Middle East since the Israel-Hamas war began more than six months ago.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken leaves for Saudi Arabia. Pic: Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Photo via AP
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He will visit Saudi Arabia, where Arab and European foreign ministers have gathered in Riyadh for a meeting of the World Economic Forum, before making stops in Jordan and Israel on Tuesday and Wednesday.
In Jordan and Israel, Mr Blinken will focus largely on aid, meeting with various relief organisations, as well as officials in both countries, to underscore the urgent need for more humanitarian assistance into Gaza.
On Sunday, the IDF said the amount of aid going into Gaza had increased “significantly” and would be scaled up “even more” in the coming days.
IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said: “Getting aid to the people of Gaza is a top priority – because our war is against Hamas, not against the people of Gaza.”
World
Ireland pledging emergency legislation to send asylum seekers back to UK in wake of Rwanda bill being passed
Ireland is pledging emergency legislation enabling it to send asylum seekers back to the UK.
More than 80% of recent arrivals in the republic came via the land border with Northern Ireland, Irish justice minister Helen McEntee told a parliamentary committee last week.
Rishi Sunak told Sky News it showed the UK’s Rwanda scheme was already working as a deterrent after it finally became law last week.
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Ireland plans to return migrants to UK
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Ireland’s deputy prime minister has said the threat of deportation to Rwanda is causing migrants to head for Ireland instead of the UK.
Micheal Martin said the policy was already affecting Ireland because people are “fearful” of staying in the UK.
The former taoiseach told The Daily Telegraph: “Maybe that’s the impact it was designed to have.”
Protesters in Dublin. Pic: PA
Simon Harris, Ireland’s latest leader, has asked Ms McEntee to “bring proposals to cabinet to amend existing law regarding the designation of safe ‘third countries’ and allowing the return of inadmissible international protection applicants to the UK”, a spokesman said.
Ms McEntee said she will be meeting UK Home Secretary James Cleverly in London on Monday.
“There are many reasons why we have seen an increase in migration towards Ireland,” she told RTE.
“My focus as minister for justice is making sure that we have an effective immigration structure and system.
“That’s why I’m introducing fast processing, that’s why I’ll have emergency legislation at cabinet this week to make sure that we can effectively return people to the UK, and that’s why I’ll be meeting with the home secretary to raise these issues on Monday.”
People are now “worried” about coming to the UK, Rishi Sunak has said.
He told Sky News: “If people come to our country illegally, but know that they won’t be able to stay here, they are much less likely to come, and that’s why the Rwanda scheme is so important.”
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Are migrants fleeing from UK to Ireland?
Mr Sunak said the comments from Irish politicians show that “illegal migration is a global challenge”.
“[That] is why you’re seeing multiple countries talk about doing third country partnerships, looking at novel ways to solve this problem, and I believe [they] will follow where the UK has led,” he said.
Shadow minister Wes Streeting said it was unlikely a Labour government would bring people back from Rwanda if some are sent there.
“Once people are settled in Rwanda, they’re settled in Rwanda,” he told Sky News, adding it was doubtful that Labour would “unpick that situation”.
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Regarding illegal migration in general, he said it required “putting the money that’s gone to Rwanda into the National Crime Agency so we can have proper cross-border policing to tackle the criminal gangs, speeding up the processing of decision-making, making sure we’ve got serious returns agreements with other countries”.
He added: “Those are solutions that can work.”
Pope Francis has made his first trip out of Rome for seven months with a visit to Venice where he asked worshippers to “pray for me”.
It was a rare acknowledgement of the strains of the job as he told thousands of the faithful gathered in St Mark’s Square: “This work is not easy”.
During a five-hour visit on Sunday, the pontiff visited an art exhibition and prison as well as conducting mass.
The 87-year-old unexpectedly withdrew from a Good Friday procession in March “to preserve his health”.
He had been battling respiratory problems all winter that made it difficult for him to speak at length.
In December, he was due to go to the United Arab Emirates, but pulled out after coming down with flu.
A painful knee ailment makes it hard for him to walk and on Sunday he regularly used a wheelchair, with Vatican News Television cutting away whenever he was helped into a chair to give a speech, or on to his white golf cart.
Pic: Reuters
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The Pope acknowledged Venice’s “enchanting beauty” in his homily at a mass before about 10,000 people in the shadow of St Mark’s Basilica, one of the most celebrated churches in Italy.
But he said the city also faced an array of challenges, including climate change, the fragility of its cultural heritage, and overtourism.
“Moreover, all these realities risk generating… frayed social relations, individualism, and loneliness,” he said.
Venice introduced a €5 charge last week for day-trippers during peak travel periods in an effort to thin the crowds.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
He started the day by flying by helicopter into a women’s prison where the Vatican has set up an exhibition that is part of the Venice Biennale, a prestigious international art show that has never been visited by a pope before.
The pope has repeatedly called for society to rally around the poor and neglected, including prison populations.
“Prison is a harsh reality, and problems such as overcrowding, the lack of facilities and resources, and episodes of violence, give rise to a great deal of suffering. But it can also become a place of moral and material rebirth,” he told inmates and guards on Sunday.
He also addressed a group of young Venetians, urging them not to spend their life glued to their smartphones, but to help others.
“If we always focus on our self, our needs, and what we lack, we will always find ourselves back at the starting point, crying over ourselves with a long face,” he said.
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