The President of Russia Vladimir Putin has signed a decree on the withdrawal of Russia from the agreement on the International criminal court (ICC). The text of the document published on the official Internet portal of legal information on Wednesday, November 16.
“To accept the proposal of the Ministry of justice of Russia (…) not to become party to the Rome Statute of the International criminal court”, — stated in the order.
The document comes into force from the date of signing. The Ministry of foreign Affairs was instructed to send a notification to the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
On 15 November, ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda has considered the accession of Crimea to Russia’s war against Ukraine and occupation of its territories. She said that the investigators of the court is actively trying to find out whether Russia is in control of armed groups in the South-East of Ukraine. If the investigators give a positive answer to this question, the events in this part of the country will be recognized armed conflict with participation of Russia.
Rome Statute of the International criminal court was adopted by a diplomatic conference of Plenipotentiaries under the auspices of the United Nations in 1998. Russia signed the document in 2000.