GENEVA
\nUN human rights experts on Wednesday condemned a Moscow court\u2019s conviction in absentia of the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and eight sitting judges, calling the move \u201ca flagrant violation of international law.\u201d
\nOn Dec. 12, the Moscow City Court sentenced ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan and eight judges on charges linked to what Russian authorities described as the \u201cunlawful prosecution of Russian citizens.\u201d The officials were handed prison terms ranging from 3.5 to 15 years, with Khan receiving 15 years, and were declared internationally wanted.
\n\u201cThese convictions are legally null and void under international law,\u201d the experts said in a statement. \u201cIt is an unprecedented attempt to criminalize the exercise of independent judicial and prosecutorial functions of an international court.\u201d
\nThey said the charges stem from the ICC\u2019s work on alleged war crimes tied to Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine, including arrest warrants issued in 2023 for President Vladimir Putin and Russia\u2019s children\u2019s rights commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova over the alleged deportation and transfer of children from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation.
\nThe experts stressed that ICC judges and prosecutors are protected by functional immunity under the Rome Statute and that domestic courts cannot prosecute them for official acts. They added that trials in absentia without proper notification or legal representation \u201cfall short of minimum due process standards\u201d and called on Russia to annul the convictions and withdraw the warrants.
\n\u201cNo State may invoke sovereignty to shield itself from accountability,\u201d they said, adding: \u201cAttempts by Russia or other UN Member States to undermine the ICC through reprisals against judicial independence and intimidation of the ICC\u2019s officials must end.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
GENEVA UN human rights experts on Wednesday condemned a Moscow court\u2019s conviction in absentia of the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and eight sitting judges, calling the move \u201ca flagrant violation of international law.\u201d On Dec. 12, the Moscow City Court sentenced ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan and eight judges on charges linked to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":363344,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-529761","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n