Venediktova: ICC prosecutor independent, my task is to provide evidence of war crimes
The Prosecutor General of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which investigates war crimes of the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine, is independent in his investigation, the Ukrainian prosecutor's office provides evidence of these crimes, Ukraine's Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova said.
"We know that today the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court is absolutely independent. How he will build an investigation strategy, how he sees it all and who he will reach out to is exclusively his competence," Venediktova said at a briefing in Kyiv on Monday, answering a question about the possibility of holding Russian President Vladimir Putin directly accountable for war crimes.
The Prosecutor General emphasized that the function of Ukrainian prosecutors in bringing to justice those responsible for war crimes at the ICC level is the collection and transfer of evidence.
"My task is to do my job here, and I will do everything I can help with fixing the crime, the possibility of interrogations," Venediktova assured.
At the same time, the Prosecutor General recalled that in Ukraine there is a so-called "mother" case, which concerns the armed aggression of the Russian Federation.
"We already have more than 200 suspects in this case. These are high-level war criminals: ministers, members of the Security Council, senators - those who were directly involved. Propagandists are on the same list," she said.
"We will see who the ICC prosecutor will reach, but we, for our part, have done everything that depends on us today," the Prosecutor General summed up.
Answering the question of whether the Ukrainian military will be held accountable if violations are found, Venediktova said "if there are any violations on our part, of course, we will investigate them and move in this direction."
The Prosecutor General assured that Ukraine respects international humanitarian law and complies with the norms of the Geneva Convention.
"We understand that the Russian Federation through various institutions will promote a completely different (vision)," she added.
