Former International Criminal Court (ICC) judge Sylvia Steiner said the first team of investigators that was sent to Ukraine is made up of “people trained to hear witnesses and take statements.”
“Most of the investigations were carried out in territories with armed conflicts, they are teams trained in establishing witness protection systems, it is difficult to be a witness of war, it is a court specialized in investigating this type of humanitarian catastrophe”, he added.
39 countries sent the Court’s prosecutor a request for an investigation of the current facts. Investigators will “collect evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity,” he said.
She pondered: “The images that we have seen are also important, but you cannot file a criminal case or condemn on the basis of images in the media, refugees are important witnesses, to confirm the circumstances in which the deaths and injuries took place.”
At the end of the investigation, the prosecutor will propose the initiation of the criminal action, which may have, depending on the evidence, a request for the issuance of an arrest warrant.
However, she points out: “It is very difficult to carry out the arrest of an incumbent head of state. There is no trial in absentia, from the moment an arrest warrant is issued and the accused does not appear, the criminal action is suspended.”
“It is still too early to talk about condemning Vladimir Putin, if he leaves power and stays in Russia, there is no way to invade the territory to arrest him, if he leaves Russia, any state that is part of the ICC will have the obligation to arrest him and hand him over.”
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m James Harper, a highly experienced and accomplished news writer for World Stock Market. I have been writing in the Politics section of the website for over five years, providing readers with up-to-date and insightful information about current events in politics. My work is widely read and respected by many industry professionals as well as laymen.
