European Parliament calls for ICC arrest warrant against Lukashenko.

The European Parliament called[1] on the International Criminal Court (ICC) on July 18 to issue an arrest warrant against Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko. "With the International Criminal Court (ICC) already having issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Children's Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova, MEPs call on the ICC to consider a similar arrest warrant for (Alexander Lukashenko)," the parliament said in its statement. The EU's legislative body stressed that Belarus under Lukashenko's regime bears responsibility for crimes committed against Ukraine, particularly for the deportation of Ukrainian children.

The parliament called for "all necessary steps at the international level" to ensure the criminal prosecution of Belarusian leaders responsible for these acts. In a broad denouncement of Lukashenko's regime, the parliament condemned its human rights abuses, voiced opposition to the participation of Belarusian athletes in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, and called for the release of political prisoners and tougher EU sanctions. The statement also warned of the growing subordination of Belarus toward Moscow and called on the EU to more decisively support Belarusian democratic opposition.

The Belarusian anti-government organization National Anti-Crisis Management submitted[2] evidence to the ICC on June 27 that Lukashenko and other Belarusian and Russian officials are responsible for the forced deportation of at least 2,100 Ukrainian children to Belarus. Ukraine's Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets also said[3] that Ukrainian children, as well as prisoners of war, are being transported to Belarus with the knowledge of authorities in Minsk. The ICC issued[4] an arrest warrant against Putin and Lvova-Belova on March 17 for organizing the illegal transfer of children, whose numbers amount to over 19,500 according to a Ukrainian government database "Children of War."[5]

Ukraine's fight to bring Russian leadership to justice puts legal systems to ultimate test

In pursuit of justice for Russia's many war crimes, Ukraine is actively seeking the establishment of an international tribunal. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has already launched investigations into alleged Russian war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide in Ukraine. However, the...

News Editor

Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent.

He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He also volunteers as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukrainer. Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.

References

1. ^ called (www.europarl.europa.eu)
2. ^ submitted (kyivindependent.com)
3. ^ said (kyivindependent.com)
4. ^ issued (kyivindependent.com)
5. ^ "Children of War." (childrenofwar.gov.ua)
6. ^ Ukraine's fight to bring Russian leadership to justice puts legal systems to ultimate testIn pursuit of justice for Russia's many war crimes, Ukraine is actively seeking the establishment of an international tribunal.

   The International Criminal Court (ICC) has already launched investigations into alleged Russian war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide in Ukraine.

   However, the... (kyivindependent.com)