{"id":4258,"date":"2023-02-24T16:59:03","date_gmt":"2023-02-24T16:59:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/londonpost.news\/?p=4258"},"modified":"2023-03-23T18:36:34","modified_gmt":"2023-03-23T18:36:34","slug":"peoples-court-approves-putins-aggression-charges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/diplomatic-world\/peoples-court-approves-putins-aggression-charges\/2023\/02\/24\/admin1\/","title":{"rendered":"‘People’s Court’ approves Putin’s aggression charges"},"content":{"rendered":"

THE<\/span> HAGUE,<\/span> Netherlands<\/span> (Reuters)<\/span> \u2014<\/span> A<\/span> \u201cpeople’s<\/span> court\u201d<\/span> without<\/span> legal<\/span> powers<\/span> has<\/span> confirmed<\/span> an<\/span> indictment<\/span> against<\/span> Russian<\/span> President<\/span> Vladimir<\/span> Putin<\/span> for<\/span> the<\/span> crime<\/span> of<\/span> aggression<\/span> in<\/span> Ukraine<\/span> and<\/span> called<\/span> for<\/span> his<\/span> arrest.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>The<\/span> symbolic<\/span> decision<\/span> Friday<\/span> came<\/span> on<\/span> the<\/span> anniversary<\/span> of<\/span> Russia’s<\/span> illegal<\/span> invasion<\/span> of<\/span> its<\/span> neighbor<\/span> that<\/span> triggered<\/span> Europe’s<\/span> biggest<\/span> and<\/span> deadliest<\/span> conflict<\/span> since<\/span> World<\/span> War<\/span> II.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>After<\/span> a<\/span> week<\/span> of<\/span> hearings<\/span> in<\/span> The<\/span> Hague,<\/span> a<\/span> panel<\/span> of<\/span> three<\/span> international<\/span> legal<\/span> experts<\/span> issued<\/span> the<\/span> order<\/span> and<\/span> called<\/span> on<\/span> the<\/span> international<\/span> community<\/span> \u201cto<\/span> take<\/span> every<\/span> step<\/span> necessary<\/span> to<\/span> ensure<\/span> that<\/span> a<\/span> court<\/span> with<\/span> legal<\/span> powers<\/span> issues<\/span> an<\/span> indictment<\/span> against<\/span> President<\/span> Vladimir<\/span> Vladimirovich<\/span> Putin<\/span> and<\/span> takes<\/span> appropriate<\/span> measures<\/span> to<\/span> arrest<\/span> the<\/span> perpetrator<\/span> and<\/span> put<\/span> him<\/span> on<\/span> trial<\/span> in<\/span> an<\/span> official<\/span> Ukraine<\/span> tribunal<\/span> as<\/span> soon<\/span> as<\/span> possible.\u201d<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>The<\/span> judges,<\/span> including<\/span> Stephen<\/span> Rapp,<\/span> a<\/span> U.S.<\/span> prosecutor<\/span> who<\/span> once<\/span> headed<\/span> the<\/span> successful<\/span> effort<\/span> to<\/span> bring<\/span> former<\/span> Liberian<\/span> President<\/span> Charles<\/span> Taylor<\/span> to<\/span> justice<\/span> for<\/span> crimes<\/span> in<\/span> Sierra<\/span> Leone,<\/span> heard<\/span> testimony<\/span> from<\/span> survivors<\/span> of<\/span> Russian<\/span> attacks<\/span> in<\/span> Ukraine<\/span> and<\/span> from<\/span> military<\/span> experts<\/span> before<\/span> issuing<\/span> their<\/span> order.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>The<\/span> ruling<\/span> comes<\/span> amid<\/span> international<\/span> efforts<\/span> to<\/span> establish<\/span> a<\/span> tribunal<\/span> that<\/span> could<\/span> prosecute<\/span> Putin<\/span> and<\/span> other<\/span> Russian<\/span> leaders<\/span> for<\/span> the<\/span> crime<\/span> of<\/span> aggression.<\/span> The<\/span> International<\/span> Criminal<\/span> Court<\/span> has<\/span> opened<\/span> an<\/span> investigation<\/span> in<\/span> Ukraine,<\/span> but<\/span> doesn’t<\/span> have<\/span> jurisdiction<\/span> to<\/span> proto<\/span> prosecute<\/span> the<\/span> crime<\/span> of<\/span> aggression.<\/span> South<\/span> Africa’s<\/span> Zach<\/span> Jacob,<\/span> the<\/span> presiding<\/span> judge<\/span> of<\/span> the<\/span> court,<\/span> said<\/span> he<\/span> hoped<\/span> the<\/span> hearings<\/span> would<\/span> increase<\/span> pressure<\/span> on<\/span> the<\/span> special<\/span> tribunal.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>“Hopefully<\/span> this<\/span> is<\/span> a<\/span> step<\/span> towards<\/span> prosecution.<\/span> Like<\/span> I<\/span> said,<\/span> we<\/span> have<\/span> no<\/span> legal<\/span> powers<\/span> or<\/span> powers,<\/span> but<\/span> hopefully<\/span> the<\/span> moral<\/span> forces<\/span> and<\/span> morals<\/span> that<\/span> lead<\/span> us<\/span> everywhere.”<\/span> I<\/span> hope<\/span> that<\/span> I<\/span> have<\/span> the<\/span> authority<\/span> to<\/span> do<\/span> so.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>The<\/span> People’s<\/span> Court<\/span> ruled<\/span> that<\/span> the<\/span> evidence<\/span> presented<\/span> was<\/span> sufficiently<\/span> strong<\/span> that<\/span> Putin,<\/span> as<\/span> head<\/span> of<\/span> state,<\/span> “planned,<\/span> prepared,<\/span> initiated,<\/span> carried<\/span> out,<\/span> planned<\/span> and<\/span> continues<\/span> to<\/span> carry<\/span> out<\/span> the<\/span> invasion<\/span> of<\/span> the<\/span> Russian<\/span> Federation<\/span> in<\/span> Ukraine.”<\/span> I<\/span> decided.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Jacob<\/span> called<\/span> Putin’s<\/span> justification<\/span> for<\/span> the<\/span> war<\/span> “pathetic.”<\/span> Prosecutors<\/span> said<\/span> he<\/span> declined<\/span> an<\/span> invitation<\/span> to<\/span> attend<\/span> the<\/span> hearing<\/span> from<\/span> Putin<\/span> or<\/span> his<\/span> legal<\/span> representative.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>“Making<\/span> allegations<\/span> like<\/span> those<\/span> he<\/span> made<\/span> is<\/span> an<\/span> affront<\/span> to<\/span> the<\/span> integrity<\/span> of<\/span> the<\/span> international<\/span> community<\/span> and<\/span> the<\/span> world.<\/span> And<\/span> I<\/span> strongly<\/span> condemn<\/span> it,”<\/span> Jacob<\/span> said.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (Reuters) \u2014 A \u201cpeople’s court\u201d without legal powers has confirmed an indictment against Russian President Vladimir Putin for the crime of aggression in Ukraine and called for his arrest. The symbolic decision Friday came on the anniversary of Russia’s illegal invasion of its neighbor that triggered Europe’s biggest and deadliest conflict since […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4259,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":""},"categories":[24,276,2480,2482],"tags":[76,132,154,170,174],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/hag.webp","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4258"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4258"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4258\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4260,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4258\/revisions\/4260"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}