But indictments offer no guarantees for trials or convictions. Former Sudan President Omar al Bashir has yet to be extradited to the ICC, despite arrest warrants issued in 2009 and 2010, and the court does not try people unless physically present.
Another prominent trial, against former Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, ended before a judgement could be passed because the defendant died in his cell.
COULD VLADIMIR PUTIN BE PROSECUTED FOR THE INVASION?
Some have also asked if the ICC can prosecute crimes of aggression, such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But this would only be possible if Ukraine or Russia were States Parties to the ICC, which they are not.
Based on the principle of universal jurisdiction, individuals can also be prosecuted for war crimes by national courts. Several countries, including Lithuania, France and Poland, have already launched investigations into such crimes having been committed by Russia in Ukraine.
Moreover, Ukraine itself, alongside more than ten other countries, has incorporated the crime of aggression into its domestic criminal code and previously tried former President Victor Yanukovych in absentia for complicity with Russia’s aggression against Ukraine in 2014. But it is unlikely he will leave Russia for fear of being arrested elsewhere.
For all the latest world News Click Here
