13:08,
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 28, ARMENPRESS. A senior government official has explained what the ratification of the Rome Statute (the treaty that established the International Criminal Court) by Armenia would mean in the event of Russian president Vladimir Putin visiting the country after the move.
Yeghishe Kirakosyan, Armenia’s Representative on International Legal Affairs, was asked on the possible enforcement of the ICC arrest warrant for Putin.
Kirakosyan said that heads of state have immunity.
“I don’t think there can be talk of arrest. The solutions which are based on paragraph 2, article 96 of the Rome Statute have been proposed to our Russian partners. It implies the signing of a bilateral agreement, which allows to create certain guarantees for the concerns that some partner countries might have. The text was presented months ago, we are waiting for our partners’ proposal,” Kirakosyan said.
The Armenian government on September 1 sent the Rome Statute to parliament for ratification.
A parliamentary committee approved the bill on September 28 and the ratification bill will be debated at a plenary session.
In 2022, the Pashinyan Administration explained that it seeks to join the Rome Statute because it would allow to hold the government of Azerbaijan to account for its aggressions against Armenia.
On 17 March 2023, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, after an investigation of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in Ukraine.
The ICC arrest warrant for Putin accuses the Russian leader of unlawfully deporting thousands of Ukrainian children, a war crime. This has been denied by the Russian government.
Countries that are signatories to the Rome Statute would have to enforce the arrest warrant once Putin travels into their territory.