Ukrainian President Establishes Tribunal with Council of Europe to Prosecute Russian Officials
Following the signing of an agreement with the Council of Europe, Zelenskyy inaugurated a specialized tribunal aimed at prosecuting Russian officials, including Putin, for the invasion of Ukraine.
“We must make it clear that aggression leads to consequences, and we must enforce this together across Europe,” Zelenskyy stated after signing the agreement with Council of Europe Secretary-General Alain Berset.
The President emphasized the necessity for robust political and legal resolve to ensure that each Russian war criminal faces justice, including Putin himself.
Putin is already the subject of an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, accused of the war crime of unlawful deportation of children from Ukraine.
Although the ICC possesses the authority to investigate war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, it lacks the jurisdictional power to address “crimes of aggression” or the employment of armed force against a state.
The proposed tribunal is designed to prosecute Russia’s “crime of aggression” concerning its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, with the potential to try senior Russian figures, including Putin.
The location of the tribunal remains undecided; however, Zelenskyy expressed a preference for The Hague, the seat of the ICC, which he considered “ideal”.
This marks the first instance of such a tribunal being established under the auspices of the Council of Europe, the continent’s foremost human rights organization.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen previously expressed that the special tribunal would provide Ukraine with a means to seek justice for the invasion – an issue not currently addressable by other international courts or tribunals.
The European Council suggested the tribunal could also target individuals from North Korea and Belarus who have supported Russia’s invasion.
The Council of Europe, comprising 46 member states including non-EU countries such as Turkiye, the United Kingdom, and Ukraine, is separate from the European Union. Russia was expelled from the organization following its invasion of Ukraine.
In addition to the warrant for Putin, the ICC is pursuing arrest warrants for four of Russia’s top military commanders charged with targeting civilians.
