Russia puts ICC prosecutor Karim Khan on wanted list

Russia has issued an arrest warrant for the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Karim Khan after the Hague-based court issued an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin in March.

The picture of the senior British barrister, who specializes in international criminal law, is on the Russian interior ministry's wanted list, media reported on Friday.

The arrest notice on the Interior Ministry's search database does not specify the specific charge(s) that have been lodged against the UK-based Khan, who was born in Edinburgh, Scotland.

A criminal investigation was launched by Russia’s Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, against Khan in March based on the ICC's "unlawful" decision to seek the arrest of Russia's President Vladimir Putin over alleged war crimes, blaming the leader over the alleged transfer of Ukrainian children by Russian troops in the pro-Moscow regions in eastern Ukraine.

The ICC has also issued a warrant for Maria Lvova-Belova, the presidential commissioner for children’s rights, on the same charges as the leader.

The Kremlin has described the ICC's arrest warrant for Putin as "null and void" for Russia's independent justice system.

The Kremlin has repeatedly rejected accusations of committing war crimes by its forces during its special military operations in Ukraine which started on February 2022. Earlier this month, Kremlin's spokesperson Dmitry Peskov called the ICC “a puppet in the hands of the so-called collective West.”

SS