In Russia, the ICC judge who issued the arrest warrants for Shoigu and Gerasimov was arrested in absentia

Author:
Oleksandra Opanasenko
Date:

The court in Moscow arrested in absentia the judge of the International Criminal Court in The Hague Haikel Ben Mahfoud, who issued arrest warrants for the former Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Sergei Shoigu and the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Federation Valery Gerasimov.

This was reported by the Russian publication Mediazon.

A criminal case of "illegal detention" was opened against Ben Mahfoud — for this he faces four years in prison.

In the summer, Ben Mahfoud, along with two other ICC judges, Rosario Salvatore Aitala and Sergio Gerardo Ugalde Godines, issued arrest warrants for Shoigu and Gerasimov. The warrants relate to international crimes committed between October 10, 2022 and March 9, 2023. We are talking about attacks on civilian objects (in particular, on energy infrastructure) and "excessive accidental damage" to civilians and objects.

Haikel Ben Mahfoud is a lawyer from Tunisia. He became a judge of the International Court of Justice in March 2024.

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