Russia Places International Criminal Court President on Its Most Wanted List

Russia has placed the International Criminal Court President on its Most Wanted List.

 

NewsOnline Nigeria reports that the President of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Piotr Hofmanski has been declared wanted under a criminal article, according to the Russian Interior Ministry’s data base.

 

This Nigeria News platform understands that “Hofmanski, Piotr Jozef. A Pole. Wanted under an article of the Russian Criminal Code,” the database says without mentioning the article involved.

 

NewsOnline Nigeria reports that the ICC First Vice President Luz del Carmen Ibanez Carranza and Judge Bertram Schmitt are also wanted on criminal charges.

 

On March 17, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, the Russian presidential commissioner for children’s rights, on charges of alleged involvement in war crimes, such as “illegal deportation of the population,” including children, and their illegal transfer to Russia.

On March 20, Russia’s Investigative Committee opened a criminal case against ICC Prosecutor Karim Ahmad Khan and judges Rosario Salvatore Aitala, Sergio Gerardo Ugalde Godinez and Tomoko Akane for taking knowingly illegal action, as there were no grounds for bringing the Russian president and children’s ombudsman to criminal responsibility.

 

In May, charges were brought against Karim Khan and Rosario Aitala. Both were put on the wanted list. Later, Tomoko Akane was also declared wanted.

 

Under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Internationally Protected Persons of December 14, 1973, heads of state enjoy absolute immunity from the jurisdiction of foreign countries.