Lithuania hands over materials about Lukashenko regime’s crimes to The Hague

The Lithuanian government has officially handed over materials related to cross-border crimes against humanity committed against Belarusians by representatives of Alexander Lukashenko’s regime to the Prosecutor’s Office of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.

Source: the United Transitional Cabinet of Belarus, appointed by Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, European Pravda reports

Details: The Lithuanian side has concluded that there is sufficient evidence that Lukashenko and his accomplices are committing crimes against humanity.

Since the crimes in question were committed both in Belarus and in states signatory to the Rome Statute, the ICC may have jurisdiction over these cases.

Quote: “Lithuania was the first country to exercise its right under the Rome Statute to ask the International Criminal Court to investigate crimes against humanity committed by the regime in Belarus. We are grateful to the Lithuanian government for its principled decision and actions,” said Tsikhanouskaya.

“A historical precedent has been set,” emphasized Pavel Latushka, deputy head of the Interim United Cabinet of Belarus, who arrived in The Hague on Monday. “For the first time in the history of the International Criminal Court, a State Party to the Rome Statute has submitted to the Public Prosecutor’s Office for consideration a situation in a State that is not a Party to the Statute.

“In addition, the ICC will for the first time address the context of large-scale international crimes in Belarus.”

Background:

• Last year, the European Parliament passed a resolution calling on the ICC to issue an arrest warrant against Lukashenko over his involvement in the deportation of Ukrainian children.

• In June 2023, the Lithuanian prosecutor’s office began investigating the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children to Belarus.

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