Ex-prosecutor in Milosevic case: Putin should not avoid trial for Ukraine crimes

He shared his opinions in an interview with BBC Radio 4.

From 1998 to 2006, Nice was the lead prosecutor in the case of former Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic.  According to the British lawyer, the charges against Putin are absolutely obvious.

"There's no question that the chain of command goes directly to Putin. These are his soldiers. At the very least, he knows what's going on from the TV reports, as do we all. But he didn't order them back to investigate the obvious crimes.  He is guilty," he said.

Nice is surprised that prosecutors and politicians are reluctant and  speculates that Putin may in the future receive immunity from prosecution as part of the investigation after the end of the war in Ukraine.

Nice said that the International Criminal Court, to whose jurisdiction Ukraine belongs, "has still not made a pronouncement about Putin's responsibility for this crime."

The prosecutor believes this reluctance raises questions whether there is some "political advantage" in absence of charges against Putin. In his opinion, political benefits are a settlement. It is quite possible that someone else, not Ukrainians, will draft a political agreement, which will include a clause  that Putin cannot be tried. According to Nice, it is a terrible prospect, it will mean that the people of Ukraine will be completely deprived of justice.

He continued that Putin, and not individual officers, is especially important to be tried, because in this way moral responsibility will be established at the very first stage, and then it cannot be questioned or changed.

Nice also added that, in his opinion, the trial could start "tomorrow morning", and it should be conducted by Ukrainiansand in the Ukrainian language.  At the same time, according to the former prosecutor, the presence of Putin himself in court is not mandatory.

 In response to Nice's claims, the International Criminal Court said its prosecutor, Karim Khan, is working in Ukraine to gather evidence of war crimes and he intends to issue arrest warrants for the perpetrators when sufficient evidence emerges.

The ICC said in response that a ny claims that the prosecutor's office or the prosecutor himself are being pressured or influenced to delay the investigation or other actions are untrue.

• On December 22, during a meeting with propagandists, Putin stated that Russia seeks to end the war in Ukraine as soon as possible, using this definition in relation to a "special operation" for the first time.
• On December 23, a Russian politician requested prosecutor's office and the Ministry of Internal Affairs to initiate a criminal case against Putin for "misinformation about the army" for calling the "special operation" a war.