Ms Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, Commissioner for Children's Rights in the President's Office of the Russian Federation, was born on October 25, 1984, and is accused of war crimes of unlawful deportation of population (children) and unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation (under articles 8(2)(a)(vii) and 8(2)(b)(viii) of the Rome Statute). The alleged crimes were committed in Ukrainian-occupied territory beginning on February 24, 2022. There are reasonable grounds to believe that Ms Lvova-Belova bears individual criminal responsibility for the aforementioned crimes, having committed them directly, jointly with others, and/or through others (Rome Statute, article 25(3)(a)).
Based on the Prosecution's applications dated 22 February 2023, Pre-Trial Chamber II determined that there are reasonable grounds to believe that each suspect is responsible for the war crimes of unlawful deportation of population and unlawful transfer of population from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation, to the detriment of Ukrainian children.
The Chamber believed that the warrants should be kept secret in order to protect victims and witnesses as well as the investigation. Nonetheless, given that the conduct addressed in the current situation is allegedly ongoing, and that public awareness of the warrants may help prevent further crimes from being committed, the Chamber determined that it is in the interests of justice to authorize the Registry to publicly disclose the existence of the warrants, the names of the suspects, the crimes for which the warrants are issued, and the modes of liability as established by the Ch.
The arrest warrants mentioned above were issued in response to applications submitted by the Prosecution on February 22, 2023.
By Covenantblog
