The government of Lithuania has officially handed over to the office of the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague materials that indicate that representatives of the regime of the self-proclaimed president of Belarus Oleksandr Lukashenko are involved in cross-border crimes against humanity against Belarusians.
This was announced by the United Transitional Cabinet of Belarus, created by the leader of the Belarusian opposition Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, and the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Lithuania.
The Peopleʼs Anti-Crisis Administration of Belarus handed over to the Lithuanian government "convincing data confirming the commission of these crimes by the top military-political leadership of the regime." Lithuania has decided that since May 1, 2020, crimes against humanity have been committed against the civilian population, including deportation, persecution and other inhumane acts, which are ongoing.
The International Criminal Court potentially has jurisdiction — the crimes took place both on the territory of Belarus and on the territory of countries participating in the Rome Statute, in particular Lithuania.
This is the first precedent in the history of ICC, when a state party to the Rome Statute referred a situation in a state that is not a party to the Statute to the Office of the Prosecutor.
"Lithuania was the first state to appeal to ICC regarding the situation in Ukraine, and eventually a warrant was issued for Putinʼs arrest. Now we are taking a step to have ICC investigate the situation in Belarus, and we are waiting for an arrest warrant for Lukashenko," said the Minister of Justice of the Republic of Lithuania Mrs. Evelina Dobrovolska.