Tomoko Akane, one of the judges who in March 2023 issued arrest warrants for Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s children’s rights ombudsman, has been elected president of the International Criminal Court (ICC). This is reported on the website of the ICC.
In this position Akane replaced the Polish lawyer Piotr Hofmanski, who headed the ICC since March 2021. She will be ICC president until 2027.
The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Putin and Lvova-Belova last March. They are suspected of the war crime of illegal deportation of the population (children) and their transfer from the occupied territories of Ukraine to the territory of the Russian Federation. The court emphasizes that the designated actions fall under Articles 8(2)(a)(vii) and 8(2)(b)(viii) of the Rome Statute, the main document governing the ICC’s powers.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the ICC decisions were “legally null and void”. “Russia is not a party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and has no obligations under it. Russia does not cooperate with it”, she explained.
