Duma speaker asks to ban ICC activity in Russia

The speaker of the Duma, the Russian Chamber of Deputies, Vyacheslav Volodin, asked this Saturday to prohibit by law the activities on Russian territory of the International Criminal Court (ICC), in retaliation for the arrest warrant against the president Russian Vladimir Putin, issued last Friday by the Court.

“It is necessary to introduce changes in the legislation that prohibit any activity of the TPI on the territory of our country and also to study the responsibility [penal] for cooperating and supporting the TPI,” he wrote on his Telegram account.

Volodin, who as soon as the arrest warrant was issued described it as “aggression” against Russia, also advocated the signing of bilateral agreements with friendly countries which envisage “the mutual renunciation of cooperation with the court of La Hague”.

In addition, he proposed that “the supreme commander”, i.e. Putin, “should have the right to take any measure for the defense of Russian citizens in the event that international structures take decisions contrary to the norms of the Constitution of Russia”. ”.

Volodin discussed draft legislation in the lower house of parliament on Friday during a meeting with Putin in the Kremlin. In turn, he recalled that since the controversial referendum of 2020, the Russian Constitution includes a point that gives “priority” to national legislation over international legislation. “On Russian territory, the decisions of the International Criminal Court, the European Court of Human Rights and other puppet institutes that Washington uses for its own interests are not respected,” he explained.

He recalled that the United States, which, like Russia, does not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC either, has adopted a law that protects its military, so that none of them can be subject to an arrest warrant from the CFI, and that they can even launch a military intervention if an American citizen sits before this tribunal. (EFE)