Proposal to Prohibit ‘International Criminal’ Conduct in Russia by Putin’s Associate.

Russian Parliament Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin proposed on Saturday to ban any activity of the International Criminal Court in the country, after the court issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin, accusing him of war crimes.

Volodin, a Putin ally, said Russia’s constitution should be amended to ban any ICC activity in the country and punish anyone who provides it with “assistance and support”.

Volodin said on his channel on “Telegram”: “It is necessary to introduce amendments to the law to ban any activity of the ICC on the territory of our country, as well as responsibility for the assistance and support of the ICC.”

He stressed that it is important to organize work on concluding bilateral agreements with friendly countries providing for mutual refusal to cooperate and assist the International Criminal Court.

He added to Volodin: “The Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation should have the right to take any measures to protect our citizens in case in which international structures make decisions that contradict the provisions of the Constitution of Russia”.

He noted that in 2002 the United States adopted a special law on the protection of military personnel, according to which no American citizen or American allied can be arrested or detained on the basis of a warrant from the International Criminal Court, moreover, it allows Washington to intervene militarily if American military officials and politicians will be in the dock.

He concluded by saying: “As far as our country is concerned, the Constitution of the Russian Federation gives priority to national legislation over international legislation, and on the territory of Russia the decisions of the International Criminal Court, the European Court of Human Rights and other institutions puppet that Washington uses to achieve its interests are not implemented. And taking into account the international experience, it is right to continue this work”.

On March 17, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Putin and the Commissioner for Children’s Rights in Russia, Maria Lvova Belova, accused of “illegal deportation” of Ukrainian children.