MOSCOW, March 20. /TASS/. Russia’s Investigative Committee said on Monday it has opened a criminal case against the prosecutor and judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) who issued a warrant for the arrest of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"The Russian Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case against prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Karim Ahmad Khan, judges of the International Criminal Court Tomoko Akane, Rosario Salvatore Aitala, and Sergio Gerardo Ugalde Godinez," it said.

According to the Committee, the case against the prosecutor was opened on charges of criminal prosecution of an innocent person with illegal charges of committing a grave or especially grave crime, as well as of plotting an attack on a foreign official enjoying international protection with the aim of aggravating international relations (part 2 of article 299, part 1 of article 30, and part 2 of article 360 of the Russian Criminal Code). The judges are accused of illegal imprisonment and plotting an attack on a foreign official enjoying international protection with the aim of aggravating international relations (part 2 of article 301, part 1 of article 30, and part 2 of article 360 of the Russian Criminal Code).

The Committee recalled that on March 22, ICC prosecutor Karim Ahmad Khan lodged a motion with the ICC Pre-Trial Division for issuing a warrant for the arrest of Russian citizens and the judges returned illegal verdicts on the arrest of the Russian president and children’s rights ombudswoman.

"The criminal case is knowingly unlawful, since there are no grounds for bringing them to criminal responsibility," the Investigative Committee stressed, adding that in accordance with the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Internationally Protected Persons dated December 14, 1973, heads of state enjoy absolute immunity from the jurisdiction of foreign states.