Support for the decisions of the International Criminal Court can be criminally punishable in Russia

The State Duma of Russia is preparing a bill to ban the activities of the International Criminal Court on the territory of the country. The meeting on Monday was dedicated to this. Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodyn also proposed introducing a criminal penalty for supporting the decisions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Volodin reported that the State Duma is preparing amendments to the federal law “On Security”. They must ban in Russia not only the International Criminal Court, but also, as he formulated, “the activities of international bodies directed against the Russian Federation and its citizens.” The head of the State Duma did not specify which international organizations could be banned.

It is also proposed to prohibit public appeals for the implementation of the decisions of such organizations. For this, amendments are being prepared in the Criminal and Criminal Procedure Codes.

The meeting was attended by Deputy Speaker of the State Duma Iryna Yarovaya and the chairmen of the specialized committees – on security and anti-corruption, Vasyl Pyskarev and on defense, Andrey Kartapolov.

• On March 17, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Children’s Ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova. The court statement states that they are suspected of illegally deporting children from Ukraine. The decision of the International Court of Justice was supported by the USA, most of the EU countries (the EU joint decision was blocked by Hungary) and Ukraine.
• Russia does not recognize the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court and does not participate in its work. Since 2016, Moscow has not been a party to the Rome Statute, which defines the actions of the court.
• On March 20, it became known that the Investigative Committee of Russia opened a criminal case against the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Ahmad Khan, and the judges of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. SC accuses them of illegal persecution of Putin and Lvova-Belova.