site logosite logo Search Search News September 02, 2024 By Current Time Russian Opposition Politician Kara-Murza Says Mongolia Must Arrest Putin Vladimir Kara-Murza Vladimir Kara-Murza Russian opposition political activist Vladimir Kara-Murza, who was released from a Russian prison last month in a major prisoner swap between Russia and the West, says Mongolian authorities “must arrest” President Vladimir Putin during his visit to the East Asian country. Putin is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), which Mongolia joined in 2003, for the unlawful deportation and unlawful transfer of children from occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia. Putin arrived in the Mongolian capital, Ulan Bator, on the evening of September 2 ahead of a planned visit that will include an appearance on September 3 at ceremonies

In 2003, Mongolia joined the International Criminal Court (ICC), where Putin is wanted for the forcible removal and smuggling of minors from seized areas of Ukraine into Russia. In advance of a scheduled visit that will include an appearance on September 3 at celebrations honoring Soviet and Mongol war triumphs in World War II, Putin landed in the Mongolian capital, Ulan Bator, on September 2. On September 1, Kara-Murza told Current Time, “Vladimir Putin should be arrested in terms of the International Criminal Court, the Rome Statute, and international law.”

Since an ICC warrant was issued for him in March 2023, Putin’s travel to Mongolia will be his first to a nation that has joined and signed the Rome Statute of the ICC. The Mongolian judge Erdenebalsuren Damdin was chosen to serve as an ICC judge in December 2023. Ukraine also called on Mongolia to detain Putin on August 30. Russia does not acknowledge the ICC’s authority. If Putin were to go to any of the 124 ICC member states, they would all be required by the Rome Statute to execute the arrest order.