The Hague city authorities supported initiative to hold special tribunal against putin

The Hague City Council supported the initiative of the leader of the Dutch VVD party, Lotte van Basten Batenburg, to establish a special tribunal in the city to investigate russia's crimes committed in Ukraine.

Van Basten Batenburg herself said this in a comment to Ukrinform.

She noted that the International Criminal Court, special tribunals for Rwanda and Yugoslavia, and European justice and police bodies — Eurojust and Europol — are already based in The Hague.

"Therefore, we have the experience and international legal infrastructure to host the future special tribunal for Ukraine, which will investigate and prosecute the crimes and atrocities committed in this aggressive russia's war," Van Basten Batenburg said.

The politician added that the future special tribunal for the russian federation might be located in the offices and halls of the tribunals for Rwanda and Yugoslavia, as they are already completing their work.

"I can imagine that a new or second building will be needed, given how many war crimes have already been registered and investigated in Ukraine. The best place would certainly be near Europol, Eurojust, the ICC, and the special tribunals for Rwanda and Yugoslavia," she believes.

We will remind that in October, the lower house of the Dutch parliament supported a resolution calling for the creation of a special tribunal in The Hague to try russian president vladimir putin and others involved in war crimes in Ukraine.

Some countries and organizations, including Ukraine, are calling for the creation of a special international tribunal to investigate war crimes committed by russia during the invasion of Ukraine.

The International Criminal Court was established 20 years ago and investigates genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and crimes of aggression. No one is immune to it, including heads of state.

However, the ICC cannot investigate the crime of aggression if both parties to the conflict are not parties to the Rome Statute. Neither russia nor Ukraine ratified the Rome Statute.

Meanwhile, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, considering the punishment of the russian federation for the crime of aggression against Ukraine, deems it expedient to focus on already existing institutions and not on the creation of new ones.