ALBAWABA - In response to the ICC seeking to arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin over the Ukraine invasion, Russia has put another International Criminal Court (ICC) judge on its wanted list.
Russia has issued an arrest warrant for a judge at the International Criminal Court (ICC) who in March issued a warrant for President Vladimir Putin on war crimes charges, the Russian TASS news agency reported on Wednesday, according to Reuters.
The Russian Interior Ministry said in a notice that the judge is "wanted in the framework of a criminal investigation," referring to Sergio Gerarde Ugaldo Godinez, a Costa Rica judge on the Hague-based ICC.
The notice did not specify details regarding the allegations brought against Gerarde by the Russian Interior Ministry.
Earlier in May, just two months after the ICC's chief prosecutor Karim Khan issued an arrest warrant against Vladimir Putin, Russia officially listed Khan on its wanted list as a response.
In a statement on Saturday, the ICC said that Khan's warrant is a "lawful mandate to ensure accountability for the gravest crimes." "Aware and profoundly concerned about unwarranted and unjustified coercive measures reportedly taken against ICC officials" they added.
In the warrant, the prosecutor accused Vladimir Putin of war crimes and centered its allegations on the illegal unlawful deportation the Russian army committed against Ukrainian children.
A similar warrant was also issued against Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia's child rights commissioner, on similar child abuse violations. In September, Lvova-Belova said that some kids, who were deported from the city of Mariupol, "spoke badly about the [Russian President], said awful things, and sang the Ukrainian anthem."
More than 16,000 children are believed to have been forcibly deported from Ukraine to Russia since the fighting began.
Following the ICC's March issuance of arrest warrants for Putin and his children's commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, on charges of war crimes, including the illegal deportation of hundreds of children from Ukraine, Russia has put the majority of the ICC leadership on its wanted list.
Although it admits to having moved hundreds of kids out of Ukraine, Russia claims that this was only done to safeguard orphans and kids left behind in the conflict zone.
