Justice secretary heads to Europe’s top court to aid Russian war crimes probe
The UK’s justice secretary is set to visit Europe’s top court to help with the investigation into Russian war crimes during the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
Prime minister Boris Johnson accused Russian president Vladimir Putin of indiscriminately “sending missiles into tower blocks to kill children” at the beginning of the month, prior to the destruction of a women and children’s hospital in the city of Mariupol this week.
Defence minister James Heappeyon Thursday branded Russia’s attack on the maternity hospital a “war crime”, while warning Moscow that use of chemical weapons may lead to an “international response”.
Justice secretary Dominic Raab’s visit to The Hague on Monday is also expected to help forge a coalition of countries which will aid the investigation.
He will also meet ambassadors from a number of countries to build the coalition.
Raab, also the deputy prime minister, will meet with ICC prosecutor Karim AA Khan QC, registrar Peter Lewis and president of the court Judge Piotr Hofmański.
“Tomorrow I will go to The Hague to offer the ICC UK technical support in bringing those responsible for war crimes in Ukraine to justice – including support with the immediate priority of gathering and preserving evidence,” said Raab.
“Russian commanders carrying out war crimes should know they cannot act with impunity. Like Radovan Karadzic and Charles Taylor before them, their actions risk landing them in a jail cell.”