The ex-prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone David Crane, who was the first to send the criminal president behind bars, believes that only an international tribunal — not a hybrid one — is needed to prosecute the Russian leadership for the war against Ukraine.
He told about this in an interview with Babel.
"All we need is an international tribunal that will have the jurisdiction to prosecute Vladimir Putin for aggression. A hybrid one will have no such powers. The mixed tribunal is a worthless and meaningless tool, a waste of time and just an attempt to show that "we are doing something". Some countries, like the United States, feel that it is not beneficial for them and do not want to set a precedent,” Crane noted.
He added that today there are no legal obstacles to the creation of a special tribunal. There are only political obstacles.
The interview with Crane will be published later.
- Ukraine insists on the International Special Tribunal, which would include foreign judges. The UN would participate in its creation. A hybrid court within the Ukrainian judicial system raises a number of questions, for example, whether such a court will be able to overcome Putinʼs immunity as president, or in whose name the verdicts will be handed down. In addition, such a hybrid court will not require a resolution of the UN General Assembly on the creation of a new independent international institution.
- Earlier, the Office of the President of Ukraine stated that Kyiv lacks the support of the United States in the issue of creating a special tribunal over the leadership of Russia. In March 2023, the United States supported the creation of a special tribunal for Russia, but within the Ukrainian judicial system.
- Meanwhile, Ukraine, the European Union, the International Criminal Court, and the government of the Netherlands launched a dialogue group that should provide support for investigations into international crimes in Ukraine, and the United States began cooperation with the Joint Investigative Team (JIT) investigating Russiaʼs serious international crimes in Ukraine.