Putin has ‘Immunity’ from war crimes prosecution, China claims

BY JOHN FENG 

China threw its considerable political weight behind Vladimir Putin on Monday by challenging the International Criminal Court’s right to prosecute the Russian president.

Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson for China‘s foreign ministry, told a press conference in Beijing that the ICC should “take an objective and just position” and “respect the jurisdictional immunity of a head of state under international law.” The court should “avoid politicization and double standards,” he said.

“China’s position has always been that dialogue and negotiation provides the fundamental way out for the Ukraine crisis,” said Wang, whose comments came shortly before Chinese President Xi Jinping landed in Moscow on a three-day state visit.

In a rare public announcement on Friday, The Hague court issued a warrant for Putin’s arrest for what it determined was the 70-year-old Russian leader’s “individual criminal responsibility” in the unlawful transfer of children from Ukraine to Russia—a war crime.

Newsweek