Vladimir Putin is facing Nuremberg-like justice, like the Nazis after WW2, over his alleged Ukraine war crimes, claims an expert.
A warrant was issued for the Russian leader's arrest by the International Criminal Court (ICC), with more than 120 countries obliged to hand the tyrant over if he sets foot on their soil.
The ICC wants the despot hauled into the dock after accusing him of the "unlawful deportation" of children from Ukraine – a war crime under the Geneva Convention.
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A warrant was also issued by the court for the arrest of Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia's Commissioner for Children's Rights, on similar allegations to Putin.
The trials that took place of the Nazi leaders in the city of Nuremberg after the WW2 laid the foundations for ICC, which is based in the Hague, in the Netherlands.
At Nuremberg, Adolf Hitler’s henchmen faced charges of crimes against peace, war crimes and crimes against humanity, for starting the war and the Holocaust. Several were hanged.
The maximum sentence the ICC can impose now is life imprisonment.
Dr Miracle Chinwenmeri Uche, from the University of Exeter Law School, told The Sun Online that it was “a reminder that alleged perpetrators who occupy powerful positions are not immune from accountability”.
Relating the Ukraine situation with Putin to the Nuremberg trials, she said the work by the ICC can be traced back to the trials, as can the principle of individual criminal responsibility.
She said that Putin and others would therefore be held individually accountable for their war crimes, no matter how long it took, and foresaw similar trials would take place elsewhere in the world.
The ICC's lack of power to enforce the warrant will leave it up to individual states to get Putin into the dock, explained Dr Uche.
She said it would not be an easy task to rely on one of the 123 states, but added the "cooperation on the execution of the arrest warrant against Mr Putin and Ms Lvova-Belova must not be ruled out".
ICC President Judge Piotr Hofmanski said all 123 state parties were legally obliged to cooperate fully with the court, when a warrant is issued.
He said one of the most important effects of the warrant is that it prevents the individual from leaving the country, adding that there were "two-thirds of the states of the world in which he will not be saved".
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