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Russia puts ICC Judge Aitala, who issued arrest warrant for Putin, on its wanted list

In May, the Russian Investigative Committee filed charges against the judge under Russian Criminal Code articles that provide for illegally taking a person into custody and plotting to attack a foreign government official, who holds the status of an internationally protected person, with the purpose of straining international relations

MOSCOW, June 22. /TASS/. The name of International Criminal Court Judge Rosario Salvatore Aitala, who issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin, has been put into the database of wanted persons of the Russian Interior Ministry.

"Rosario Salvatore Aitala is wanted under a Criminal Code article," the database entry says, without specifying the charges against him.

In May, the Russian Investigative Committee filed charges against the judge under Russian Criminal Code articles that provide for illegally taking a person into custody and plotting to attack a foreign government official, who holds the status of an internationally protected person, with the purpose of straining international relations.

On March 17, 2023, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russia's commissioner for children's rights Maria Lvova-Belova on charges of unlawful deportation of Ukrainian children. On March 20 the Russian Investigative Committee opened a criminal case against the ICC prosecutor and judges, deeming their actions as knowingly unlawful since they had no grounds for holding the president and the children’s rights commissioner criminally liable. According to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Internationally Protected Persons of December 14, 1973, heads of state enjoy absolute immunity from the jurisdiction of foreign countries.