The “People’s Court” Demands That Putin Be Accused And Tried

A “people’s court” ruled on Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin should be prosecuted “as soon as possible” for committing more than 1,000 cases of crimes of aggression against Ukraine.

The court’s decision, which also refers to itself as the “Ukraine Tribunal,” was made one year after Russia invaded its neighbor and is mostly symbolic since it has any legal authority.

One of the three judges of the court read the decision, saying, “The Court of the Citizens of the World… has heard sufficient credible evidence to support a finding that there exists substantial grounds to believe that the president of the Russian Federation used grievous and destructive armed force… against Ukraine.”

According to judge Zak Yacoob, the report concludes that “there are significant grounds for the confirmation of an indictment to be filed against President Vladimirovich Putin for more than 1,000 incidents of crimes of aggression perpetrated against the land and people of Ukraine.”

The court called for Putin to be detained and “put him on trial in an official Ukrainian courtroom as soon as possible,” urging “the United Nations, the European Union and all the peoples of this planet… to guarantee that a court with legal authority issue an indictment.”

The court’s hearings began on Monday in The Hague, and according to its organizers, albeit being symbolic, they hoped to “fill an accountability vacuum” since Ukraine does not currently have any tribunals that can investigate acts of aggression.

The Rome Statute, the foundation instrument of the International Criminal Court, also situated in The Hague, lists these crimes as invasion, military occupation, and aerial bombing of one country by another.

The ICC is presently looking into potential war crimes and crimes against humanity that may have taken place in Ukraine, but it lacks the authority to prosecute the more general crime of aggression that was committed during the invasion.

Judges of the People’s Court expressed optimism that it “was a start towards prosecution.”

Former South African Constitutional Court judge and anti-apartheid campaigner Yacoob remarked, “Perhaps we have the authority of moral power and moral persuasion which will lead us there.”