"This makes him a plague": the consequence of the ICC arrest warrant against Vladimir Putin

Chloé Lagadou, edited by Gauthier Delomez 19:50 pm, March 17, 2023

A real blow for Vladimir Putin? On Friday, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for the Russian president. The master of the Kremlin is allegedly responsible for war crimes in Ukraine, perpetrated as part of the invasion of the country by his troops. This is the first time that Vladimir Putin has been targeted by such a mandate: the ICC accuses him specifically of deportations and illegal transfers of children from the occupied areas to the Russian Federation.

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Extremely limited travel abroad

The Ukrainian Presidency welcomed the arrest warrant and welcomed a historic decision. Because from now on, the Russian president's travel abroad will be extremely limited. "All states (that are) part of the statute of the International Criminal Court have from today (Friday) the obligation, if Vladimir Putin appears on their territory, to arrest him, regardless of the national and international provisions," said William Bourdon, a lawyer of international law, at the microphone of Europe 1.

"If there is no status that can prevail in the ICC arrest warrant," the lawyer continues, he tempers by stressing that the master of the Kremlin will not be arrested overnight. "In states that have not ratified or are boycotting (the ICC), and that are in a very anti-Western movement, Vladimir Putin will be able to travel. It will be able to land in Tehran (Iran), Baghdad (Iraq), New Delhi (India)... But that still makes it a plague on a global scale," says William Bourdon.

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For its part, Russia denies all allegations of war crimes. Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev even compared the arrest warrant to "toilet paper."