European Parliament’s resolution on tribunal for Putin, Łukašenka unrealistic at this point – pundit

January 20, BPN. The European Parliament’s January 19 resolution calling for an international tribunal to bring the leaders of Russia and Belarus to justice is “just a declaration,” political analyst Arciom Šrajbman told BPN.

“It is not binding and the European Union has no authority to set up international tribunals,” he noted. “It is just a certain course of action for the post-war period. It is obvious that it is impossible to convict the ruling dictator because there are no tools to hold him accountable. You can declare him a criminal as you wish, try him in absentia, but how do you arrest him?”

It is difficult to develop such legal mechanisms, Šrajbman said. The international law does not make provision for such tribunals, while the United Nations would not be able to set it up because Russia would block it at the UN Security Council, he noted.

Vladimir Putin and Alaksandr Łukašenka could be tried in absentia in any country that could issue an international warrant for their arrest, he said, noting that such a scenario was also unrealistic.

Russia and Belarus can try Putin and Łukašenka only after the change of government in these countries, as it happened in Yugoslavia’s case, the pundit said.

On January 19, the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling for an international tribunal to hold the Russian and Belarusian leadership accountable for the aggression against Ukraine.

MEPs stressed that it ”must have jurisdiction to investigate not only Vladimir Putin and the political and military leadership of Russia, but also Alaksandr Łukašenka and his cronies in Belarus.”

The resolution said the tribunal should fill the
void in international justice, complementing the efforts of the International
Criminal Court (ICC), which couldn’t investigate the particular crime of
aggression against Ukraine.