Newspaper: Rome withholds execution of ICC warrant against Putin

The Italian Ministry of Justice has not acted on the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“The order of the judges of The Hague is stuck in the offices of the ministry,” the report by Corriere della Sera newspaper stated, per Caliber.Az.

The article added that Italian Minister of Justice Carlo Nordio “did not pass it to the Attorney General of Rome, so that it could be sent to the Court of Appeal to give it an executive character.”

Journalists from the publication described the Justice Ministry’s inaction as a “political decision,” drawing a parallel with the similar stance taken in the case of the ICC arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. According to Corriere della Sera, the Italian government’s approach signals a broader view that heads of state and government are protected by immunity.

The ICC's Pre-Trial Chamber issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin in March 2023. The warrant accuses the Russian leader of responsibility for alleged war crimes related to the “unlawful deportation” and “illegal transfer” of children from Russian-occupied territories in Ukraine to Russia.

Alongside Putin, the ICC also issued an arrest warrant for Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, the Russian Commissioner for Children’s Rights. Both are “allegedly responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation” of Ukrainian children, the ICC announced at the time.

“The crimes were allegedly committed in Ukrainian occupied territory at least from February 24, 2022,” the court stated, noting that there are “reasonable grounds to believe” both Putin and Lvova-Belova bear individual criminal responsibility.

According to the ICC, there is credible evidence that President Putin is criminally liable for personally committing the acts, acting jointly with others, or through others. He also bears responsibility, the court added, “for his failure to exercise control properly over civilian and military subordinates who committed the acts, or allowed for their commission, and who were under his effective authority and control, pursuant to superior responsibility.”

The warrants were issued under the legal framework of the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC in 1998. Neither Russia nor Ukraine are parties to the Rome Statute, although Ukraine has accepted the court’s jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed on its territory since 2014.

By Tamilla Hasanova