Surprise Putin in Crimea for the anniversary of the annexation. CPI: “He can be tried like Milosevic”
Vladimir Putin makes a surprise trip to Crimea. A visit to celebrate the ninth anniversary of the peninsula’s annexation to Russia, a few hours after the historic decision of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue an arrest warrant against the Russian president, held “responsible for the war crime of deportation illegal transfer of children from occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia”. Upon his arrival in Sevastopol, Putin chose to visit a children’s centre.
Dressed informally in a blue cardigan and dark trousers, he arrived driving a car to the port where Russia’s Black Sea Fleet is stationed. Together with Governor Mikhail Razvoyaev he also visited an art school, a video shows released by the Russian news agency RIA Novosti.
Yesterday Putin became the first head of state of a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council against whom the ICC has issued an arrest warrant. According to the chief prosecutor of the CPI, Karim Khan, Putin could be tried even though Moscow believes it is not subject to the Court’s decisions. In an interview with CNN, Khan cited the backgrounds of former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic and former Liberian leader Charles Taylor and Nazi war criminals. “All of them were powerful individuals and yet they found themselves in courtrooms,” he said.
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