International Court Indicts Top Russia Officials
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
THE HAGUE/MOSCOW/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – The International Court of Justice (ICC) has indicted Russia’s former defense minister Sergei Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov, chief of the staff of the Russian Armed Forces, for alleged war crimes in Ukraine.
The Hague-based ICC said the two men had been directing attacks at civilian objects and “causing excessive incidental harm to civilians or damage to civilian objects … and the crime against humanity of inhumane acts.”
The court, to which Russia is not a signatory, has no enforcement powers.
It relies on the 124 nations that are signatories to arrest those indicted for war crimes or crimes against humanity if they visit their territories.
However, Russia’s Security Council dismissed the arrest warrants as “null and void” on Tuesday.
“That is empty talk, considering that the ICC’s jurisdiction does not include Russia, and the decision has been made as part of the West’s hybrid warfare against our country,” it said.
The court explained in a statement that warrants were issued Monday as judges considered there were reasonable grounds to believe that Shoigu and Gerasimov are responsible for “missile strikes carried out by the Russian armed forces against the Ukrainian electric infrastructure ” from Oct. 10, 2022, until at least March 9, 2023.
Hundreds of thousands of people are believed to have been killed or injured since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022.
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