An international special tribunal for Vladimir Putin and the rest of the Russian Federation’s “ruling elite” will be established before the end of 2024, European Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders said in an interview with Deutsche Welle on the sidelines of the Restoring Justice for Ukraine”.
According to Reynders, there are currently discussions in the West about this process “with various international actors” and “two main options are currently being considered: an international tribunal based on a multilateral agreement or a simplified solution based on a bilateral agreement between Ukraine and the Council of Europe”.
The EU has also created a new system for the transfer of judicial proceedings: now criminal proceedings from Ukraine, including for the crime of aggression, can be transferred to this special tribunal.
According to Reynders, the work on establishing the tribunal is nearing completion: “The next step is a matter of political will. It’s only the beginning of the year now, but by the end of the year it should be possible.”
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told the same conference that the West was no longer afraid of the idea of a special tribunal for the Russian leadership and of confiscating the frozen assets of the Central Bank of Russia to compensate for Ukraine’s damages. After more than two years of full-scale war, there is a change in the position of the international community on these issues. The diplomat recalled that in the first days of the war, “the conversation about creating a special tribunal for the crime of aggression began with a categorical “no” and refusal by all partners.”
On April 2, the conference “Restoring Justice for Ukraine” was held in The Hague. Its main result was the signing by 44 countries of a declaration to establish a special tribunal for Russia for crimes against Ukraine. Among the signatories were Georgia and Moldova.
The document condemns Russian aggression against Ukraine as a gross violation of international law and calls on the parties to strengthen joint action to ensure a proper investigation of violations of international law committed during Russia’s war against Ukraine. The declaration noted the role of all institutions involved in the investigation of Russian crimes, including the International Criminal Court, which issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin. The parties also welcomed the Netherlands’ proposal to establish a special tribunal in The Hague.
In addition to Georgia and Moldova, the document was signed by: Albania, Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy , Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, UK and USA.
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