On Friday afternoon, the International Criminal Court (ICC) published arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putinaccusing him of committing war crimes in Ukraine.

The news, which was hailed by Kyiv and Human Rights Watch and Moscow called “legally invalid,” opened a new chapter in the history of the war in Ukraine. But what does the arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin really mean?

How does the ICC warrant affect Putin?

According to Reuters analysis, the Russian president may not be in immediate danger of “moving” to a cell in The Hague, but a warrant against him may affect his ability to freely travel outside of Russia and meet other leaders who, at the same time, may not want to negotiate with the “wanted” Putin.

The Russian president is only the third head of state in history to be indicted by the International Criminal Court while still in office. But what could be the consequences of this warrant for him?

First of all, it is worth pointing out the accusations against Vladimir Putin. Specifically, The ICC accuses him of taking minors from Ukraine to Russia.

His answer Kremlin in the above category, he was completely dismissive, with the Russian foreign minister noting that ICC decisions “do not matter to Russia even from a legal point of view.”

However, the 123 Member States participating in the International Criminal Court they are formally obliged to arrest Putin if he is found on the territory their. It is noted that both Russia and China, as well as the United States, as well as India, which will host the G20 at the end of this year, are not member states of the International Criminal Court.

The International War Crimes Court was created by the “Statute of Rome”, a treaty ratified by all member states of the European Union, as well as countries such as Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, Mexico, Switzerland, 33 African countries and 19 states. is located in the South Pacific.

Russia also signed the Rome Statute in 2000, but withdrew its support in 2016 when the ICC called the annexation of the Crimean peninsula Moscow as an “armed conflict”.

“Putin is not stupid. He is not going to go to a country where he can be arrested,” explains Iva Vukusic, associate professor of history at Utrecht University. At the same time, he added that the Russian president “is not going to travel to any other countries, except for those that are allies of Moscow.”

What happened in similar cases in the past

But what has happened in similar cases of “persecution” of leaders by the ICC in the past? Former President of Sudan Omar al-Bashir and former leader of Libya, Muammar Gaddafi these are the only times leaders have faced ICC charges while they were still in charge of their countries. In the case of Gaddafi, the case was “closed” by his overthrow and assassination in 2011.

As for his case Bashir, who was accused of genocide in Darfur in 2009, remained at the head of his country for another ten years until he was finally overthrown in a coup. He was subsequently prosecuted in Sudan for other crimes, but ultimately not delivered to the ICC.

In fact, during his tenure, Bashir traveled to Arab and African countries, including to ICC member states that refused to arrest him. The court reprimanded these countries or referred them to the UN Security Council.

The ICC brought the former head of state to trial after he resigned. Reason for the former president of the Ivory Coast, Laurent Gbagbowho was acquitted of all charges in 2019 after completing a three-year trial.

Whereas in the case of Kenya, both President William Ruto and his predecessor Uhuru Kenyatta were indicted by the ICC before they were elected. Eventually, the charges against them were dropped, and Kenyatta became the only leader to appear before the ICC while still in power.

The case of Milosevic and Charles Taylor

It is worth noting, of course, that several former leaders have appeared before other international courts.

One of the most notable cases is his Slobodan Milosevic. In fact, the former president of Serbia and Yugoslavia became the first former head of state to appear before an international court since World War II. Milošević faced accusations of crimes during the Balkan Wars in the 1990s by the United Nations Special Court and died in custody in 2006, before a final verdict.

Another case concerns the former leader of Liberia, Charles Taylor, who was found guilty of war crimes in 2012 by the UN Special Tribunal for Sierra Leone. In fact, Taylor became the first head of state to be convicted by an international court of war crimes since the Nuremberg trials.

Finally, the former President of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci, one of Milosevic’s opponents during the Balkan conflicts, is indicted for war crimes by the Special Tribunal in The Hague. In fact, the trial will take place next month.

^{Source: Reuters.}