“Demonstrative collection of pseudo-evidence”: how the topic of the trial of the leadership of the Russian Federation continues to be discussed in the West

London intends to bring Russian officials to justice for allegedly committed crimes in Ukraine.

This was stated by the British Minister of Justice Dominic Raab on the eve of a meeting with his counterpart from the Netherlands Dylan Yeshilgoz-Zegerius.

The words of the official are quoted by the press service of the government of the United Kingdom.

“Russian troops must know that they cannot act with impunity, and we will support Ukraine until justice is served,” Raab said.

According to the head of the UK Department of Justice, "the international community must provide the strongest possible support to the International Criminal Court (ICC. -

) so that war criminals are held accountable for the atrocities that we are witnessing."

In turn, the Minister of Justice and Security of the Netherlands stated that the crimes allegedly committed by the RF Armed Forces "cannot go unpunished." 

“Reports and photographs regarding Russia's illegal and unprovoked armed attack on Ukraine are horrifying.

It is crystal clear to us that these crimes cannot go unpunished.

During this timely meeting, we will continue to engage with our partners to ensure support for the ICC and the Ukrainian authorities, ”Dylan Yeshilgoz-Zegerius was quoted as saying by the press service of the British government.

Last year, London offered the ICC a "tailor-made package of support measures that included additional funding" of £1 million and "ad hoc law enforcement assistance", according to the UK government's website.

“This follows steps taken by the UK in March last year to encourage allies to refer cases of atrocities in Ukraine to the ICC.

The referral from the State Party, so far supported by 43 countries, meant that the prosecutor could proceed directly to the investigation stage without the need to obtain judicial approval, ”the British Cabinet said.

• UK Attorney General Dominic Raab

• © Victoria Jones / PA Images

Also, the government of the United Kingdom recalled that the independent adviser to the Attorney General of Ukraine is now an "expert on war crimes", QC Howard Morrison.

It provides legal advice and "oversees the program" for training Ukrainian judges.

“Currently, there are more than 200 trials of alleged war crimes (in Ukraine. -

) and more than 50 thousand cases related to war crimes have been opened,” the press service of the British government said.

"No Trust"

In March, as expected by the British authorities, a meeting of justice ministers from around the world will be held to provide financial and practical support for the International Criminal Court.

The exact number of participants in the summit has not yet been announced.

According to experts interviewed by RT, the event will mainly bring together justice ministers from Western countries to coordinate actions aimed at bringing Russian officials to justice using the mechanisms of the ICC.

“In the current situation, the International Criminal Court cannot be objective, any process against Russia there can be developed.

In fact, the ICC has already become an information and political weapon of the collective West, ”said Vladimir Bruter, an expert at the International Institute for Humanitarian and Political Studies, in an interview with RT.

Recall that the International Criminal Court was established on the basis of the Rome Statute.

As stated in the first article of this document, the instance "is a permanent body authorized to exercise jurisdiction over persons responsible for the most serious crimes of concern to the international community."

The ICC is not part of the UN and is accountable to countries that have ratified the Rome Statute.

Russia is not among these states.

In addition to the Russian Federation, the United States and Ukraine do not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC.

Despite this, Washington and Kyiv support the activities of this structure to collect "evidence" of war crimes allegedly committed by the RF Armed Forces during the NMD.

The work of the ICC is also supported in the EU.

“I will submit a proposal (to the European Commission. - 

) ... to support the work of the International Criminal Court ... to support the Prosecutor General of Ukraine ... and to support the proposal (on the creation. - 

) of a special tribunal dedicated to ... war crimes in Ukraine, "said Head of European Diplomacy Josep Borrell at a meeting of the heads of diplomatic departments of the OSCE countries in early December 2022.

In a RT commentary, Vadim Kozyulin, head of the Center for Global Studies and International Relations of the IAMP Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry, noted that Russia sees no point in interacting with the ICC, since it does not consider itself responsible for the death of civilians.

• The consequences of the night shelling of Gorlovka by Ukrainian troops.

  January 7, 2023

• RIA News

• © Valery Melnikov

“Moscow proceeds from the fact that the Russian troops did not commit aggression and comply with international humanitarian law.

In addition, the Russian Federation has a lot of counterclaims against the Ukrainian side, ”the expert emphasized.

As Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated during his speech at the UN Security Council in September 2022, the International Criminal Court ignored more than 3 thousand appeals from the Russian Federation about crimes against the inhabitants of Donbass, and also left the bloody coup d'état in Kyiv and the tragedy in the Odessa House of Trade Unions 2014 unanswered of the year.

“Apparently, now the leadership of this “judicial body” has received a command “from above” that they develop vigorous activity.

We have no confidence in this body.

For eight long years we have been waiting in vain for the fight against impunity in Ukraine to begin.

We no longer count on justice from this and a number of other international institutions.

The waiting time is over," Lavrov stressed.

The head of the Russian Foreign Ministry recalled the numerous violations by the Kyiv regime of the norms of international humanitarian law.

Among them are the massacres of Russian prisoners of war, the use of civilians as human shields, strikes on civilian objects in populated areas, and the scattering of banned anti-personnel mines in Donetsk "Petal".

Such atrocities, Lavrov said, were made possible and go unpunished by the policy of the United States and its allies to escalate the conflict in Ukraine.

“Against this background, the position of those states that pump weapons and military equipment into Ukraine and train the personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is especially cynical.

The goal is obvious (they do not hide it, but declare it): to prolong the hostilities as much as possible, despite the casualties and destruction, in order to deplete and weaken Russia, ”Lavrov said.

According to Vladimir Bruter, the West is indifferent to the real situation with respect for international humanitarian law in Ukraine and the liberated territories.

“The main goal of the West is to keep the conflict going for as long as possible.

On this path, in addition to military support measures, the United States and its allies resort to accusing Russia of allegedly committing war crimes.

These are methods of psychological pressure, part of the information war against us,” Bruter said.

For example, congressmen from two parties of the United States are trying to equate the actions of the Russian Federation in Ukraine with genocide and are calling on the White House to bring Russian government and military figures to "responsibility."

“The Senate supports the organization of courts and the conduct of an international criminal investigation to hold the Russian political leadership and military accountable,” reads the resolution recognizing Russia’s actions in Ukraine as genocide, which was lobbied by Republican Jim Rish and Democrat Ben Cardin.

• Ukrainian calculation of howitzers of American production M777 in the area of ​​Artyomovsk

• RIA News

• © Pierre Crom

At the same time, as Bruter stated, the United States and the authorities of other unfriendly countries completely ignore the numerous facts of war crimes of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and nationalist formations.

For propaganda purposes

The initiative to hold Russia accountable for actions in Ukraine arose at the very beginning of the special operation.

According to experts, representatives of the West and the Kyiv regime are planning to organize a trial against Russian officials through the mechanisms of the ICC or within the framework of some special tribunal.

“Our enemies are well aware that with the help of the ICC it is unrealistic to organize the process they seek.

The activities of this instance are now needed for the demonstrative collection of pseudo-evidence, for promoting the theme of Moscow's "responsibility" for "aggression", Russophobia and slandering Russia's policy.

For this reason, the topic of a special tribunal is being discussed, although it is completely incomprehensible what legal basis it can have in principle,” Bruter argues.

A similar point of view is shared by Vadim Kozyulin.

As the expert emphasized, Russia is not obliged to obey any decisions of the ICC and other international instances.

In addition, the domestic legislation fixes the priority of national law over international law.

“All these discussions about the trial of the Russian leadership have no real basis and will completely lose their meaning when our country wins.

On the other hand, it is involuntarily striking that the West, which did not bear any responsibility for aggressive wars and crimes against the civilian population, now allows itself to blame Russia for this, ”concluded Kozyulin.