Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Iryna Mudra, has confirmed that on May 9, during a high-level meeting of foreign ministers from dozens of countries in Lviv, political support will be expressed for the establishment of a special tribunal to prosecute the crime of aggression against Ukraine.
She announced this during a televised interview, according to Ukrinform.
“At the end of March, the Core Group — a coalition of over 40 countries — completed its two-year work on establishing the special tribunal. As a result, the founding documents, including the tribunal’s statute, were finalized. Tomorrow, on May 9, political endorsement for the tribunal will be formally expressed during a ministerial-level event in Lviv,” said Mudra.
According to her, the tribunal could begin operations as early as next year, but preparatory work at the Council of Europe level will commence this month.
“This year we will complete the legal formalization, and the Council of Europe will start forming the tribunal: appointing judges, a secretariat, prosecutors, and implementing the rules and operational procedures,” she added.
Mudra emphasized that the sole purpose of the tribunal will be to prosecute the highest political and military leadership of states waging war against Ukraine for the crime of aggression, specifically naming leaders of Russia, Belarus, and North Korea.
“The tribunal will focus exclusively on this crime, enabling the judges to concentrate fully on holding specific individuals in aggressor states accountable,” Mudra noted.
As previously reported by Ukrinform, in April, during the Restoring Justice for Ukraine conference in The Hague, 44 countries signed a declaration committing to enhanced cooperation in investigating Russian war crimes and holding Russia accountable for violations of international law.
Source: Special tribunal for Russia: dozens of FMs to endorse its establishment at May 9 meeting in Lviv
