Today, 17th of March 2023, the International Criminal Court has issued two warrants of arrest in the Ukraine situation for Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation and for Maria Lvova-Belova, Commissioner of the Russian President's [office] for children’s rights, for the alleged war crimes of deportation of children from Ukrainian occupied territories into the Russian Federation. It is forbidden by international law for occupying powers to transfer civilians from the territory they live in to other territories. Children enjoy special protection under the Geneva Convention. The contents of the warrants are secret in order to protect victims. The ICC attaches great importance to the protection of victims especially children. Nevertheless, the judges of the chamber dealing with this case decided to make the existence of the warrants public in the interest of justice and to prevent the commission of future crimes. This is an important moment in the process of justice before the ICC, the judges have reviewed the information and evidence submitted by the prosecutor, and determined that there are credible allegations against these persons for the alleged crimes.
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