Russia announced on Monday the opening of a criminal investigation against the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court and 3 judges, days after the court issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin on the background of "war crimes" in Ukraine.
Russia's Investigative Committee said in a statement that these judges, including ICC prosecutor Karim Khan, "issued illegal decisions (aimed) at arresting the President of the Russian Federation and the Commissioner for Children's Rights."
"A criminal investigation has been opened," meaning that ICC prosecutor Karim Khan is being targeted for "initiating criminal proceedings against a person known to be innocent, attaching them to an unlawful charge of a particularly serious or serious crime," as well as "preparing an attack on a representative of a foreign state," it said.
The International Criminal Court, based in The Hague, the Netherlands, issued the arrest warrant for the Russian president for the "supposed war crime of illegally deporting children from the occupied territories of Ukraine to the Russian Federation."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the decision "historic" and US President Joe Biden said it was "justified".
Invalid decision
Moscow criticized the decision as "null and void," because Russia is not a member state of the ICC and therefore does not recognize the jurisdiction of the court, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
According to Russia's Investigative Committee, "it is clear that criminal prosecution is illegal, because there is no reason for criminal responsibility."
As head of state, Putin "benefits from absolute immunity from the jurisdiction of foreign states," she said.