Symbolic tribunal in The Hague finds Putin guilty of crimes committed in Ukraine

In The Hague, Putin was symbolically tried in absentia for the crime of aggression, war crimes and crimes against humanity committed since February 24, 2022, Ukrinform reports.

“We have no doubts, taking into account the testimony of the witnesses and the evidence presented, that the invasion was a crime of aggression…The nature and force of the crime suggests that it was being prepared long before February 24, 2022,” the symbolic court emphasized in its decision.

As part of this process, the case was examined for a week by world-renowned lawyers and real witnesses. Its goal was to increase awareness and support for the idea of a real tribunal.

The case was reviewed by the former member of the Constitutional Court of South Africa Zak Yacoob, the former US Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues Stephen J. Rapp, the international law consultant Priya Pillai, who also worked at the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, in particular, analyzed disputed legal issues.

The symbolic trial was based on the principles of the Nuremberg trials and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

• On November 17, The Hague District Court announced the verdict that the Russian-controlled DPR, Igor Girkin and his subordinates, Sergey Dubinskiy and Leonid Kharchenko, were responsible for the downing of a Malaysia Airlines passenger Boeing-777 with 298 people on board.

• On February 8, prosecutors of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) conducting the MH17 investigation reported strong evidence that Russian President Vladimir Putin personally signed a decision to supply a Russian missile system to Ukraine in 2014.

• On February 21, Putin granted the state award to the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade, which was involved in the downing of Malaysian passenger airliner flight MH17.