By KYIV. Oct 31 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The team of Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Karim Khan has been strengthened by prosecutors who will focus on the cases of Ukraine, there is a clear understanding of the work for the coming months, Prosecutor General of Ukraine Andriy Kostin said.
"We work almost daily with the team of ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan, I personally am in constant contact with him. His team, reinforced by prosecutors who will concentrate only on the affairs of Ukraine, is here," Kostin told Interfax-Ukraine.
He said: "In general, we have an understanding of what we want to do in the coming months. I will not disclose details."
The Prosecutor General said the ICC Prosecutor’s Office conducts its own investigation, it has its own ability to collect evidence.
"In accordance with the principle of complementarity, he can provide an investigation, for example, in territories to which we do not have access. Or where, for objective reasons, we cannot establish all the circumstances of the crime. This applies to cases, in particular, in Mariupol, all cases that can be considered and transferred to the office of the ICC prosecutor and then to the ICC, we are conducting our own investigation, but we understand that for some of them the ICC will be the best platform," Kostin said.
He also drew attention to the fact that the ICC is able to ensure that representatives of the highest military and Russian political leadership, including those who have immunity to domestic national jurisdiction, are brought to justice for war crimes and genocide.
Answering the question of whether there are legal grounds and a set of other factors for opening a case against Russian President Vladimir Putin and whether the Ukrainian Prosecutor General sees such intentions with Prosecutor Khan, Kostin said: "I have already said that the ICC is a court in which "Suspects don’t have immunity. We want Putin and the top military-political leadership of Russia, all their henchmen, to answer to the ICC and the special tribunal. And this can legally be."
