A Russian court has ordered the arrest in absentia of International Criminal Court (ICC) Judge Haykel Ben Mahfoudh, who previously issued arrest warrants for senior Russian military officials, Mediazona reported on Monday.
Mahfoudh was one of three ICC judges who in June issued warrants for Russia’s former Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov, citing alleged war crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine.
The Kremlin dismissed these warrants as “absurd” and legally void, noting that Russia is not an ICC member and does not recognize its authority.
Russian authorities have now charged Mahfoudh with “unlawful detention,” a crime punishable by up to four years in prison, according to Mediazona, which did not disclose its sources.
Moscow’s Basmanny District Court ruled to place Mahfoudh, who joined the ICC as a judge earlier this year, in pre-trial detention in absentia.
In March 2023, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his children’s rights commissioner over the alleged illegal deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia.
Ukraine claims that thousands of children were forcibly removed from orphanages and other institutions after Russia’s invasion in February 2022, while Moscow contends that it relocated the children for their safety.
In response, Russia’s Investigative Committee launched a criminal investigation into ICC prosecutor Karim Khan and three other judges, accusing them of “unlawful” actions in seeking Putin’s arrest.
While the Kremlin has dismissed the ICC warrants as inconsequential, Putin has since limited his international travel. His September visit to Mongolia marked his first trip to an ICC member state since the issuance of the warrant in March 2023.
