According to Pushilin, the court should be international, some countries already have prior approval. The statute of the court was developed by the DPR and the relevant departments of Russia, in particular, the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation.
“It certainly makes sense that the Mariupol court was the first. Theoretically, could we have time to do this in the summer? Yes, and yet I would not be late here ”
said Pushilin.
He explained that the timing of the court would be determined after the completion of the investigators’ work.
“Extensive preparations for the Tribunal are underway… This includes examining the prisoners’ statements and their location, their stationing points and material evidence, creating a full picture of what is happening … Do not say with certainty, because it also depends on the investigators. As soon as the investigators allow it, ”he said.
The head of the DPR previously emphasized that the task of court organizers is to create the maximum open process.
Terms and composition
The trial in Mariupol will be held against the fighters of the Azov unit of the Ukrainian National Guard (the organization is banned in Russia), withdrawn from the Mariupol metallurgical plant Azovstal. On May 24, Pushilin announced that an international trial was planned and representatives from other countries were invited to the hearing.
On July 25, the head of the Russian Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, suggested that Syria, Iran and Bolivia take part in the formation of the tribunal. According to him, these countries take an independent position on the special operations of the RF Armed Forces.
“It is also recommended to include other countries, especially Syria, Iran and Bolivia, which have taken an independent stance on the Ukrainian issue based on the norms of international law, in the work of establishing an international justice body,” he said. aforementioned Interviews with Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
He believes that in the current perspective, the creation of such a tribunal under the auspices of the UN is “highly dubious”. The head of the UK also noted that this problem can be solved jointly with Russian partners in the CIS, CSTO, BRICS, SCO.
On July 27, it became known in the DPR that the draft court statute was being prepared, the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the republic Natalya Nikonorova announced this.
“In the near future an international tribunal for war criminals will be established in the republic. “We have prepared a draft agreement on the establishment of the court and are actively interacting with relevant law enforcement and judicial authorities to finalize its statutes.”
On August 10, Alexander Dyukov, a member of the Council commission under the President of the Russian Federation of Ethnic Relations, showed what the cell looked like in the Mariupol Philharmonic building, where the defendants will be held during the trial. .
On July 8, the moratorium on the death penalty was lifted in the DPR.
Elite unit crimes
Azov was formed as a battalion in 2014, but over time, the unit was placed in a regiment and became part of the Ukrainian National Guard as part of the Special Operations Forces (SOF). After the NM of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and the DPR liberated Mariupol, the Ukrainian army, which resisted for almost two months on the territory of the Azovstal plant, surrendered – 2,439 people from the Azov and Ukrainian Armed Forces. Later, some prisoners were replaced by the military from the republics of the Russian Federation and Donbass.
The soldiers of the unit are charged with crimes committed both during the special operation of the RF Armed Forces in Ukraine, and for actions during the ATO (anti-terrorist operation in the southeast of Ukraine). Ukraine against Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics from 2014 to 2017) and then conflict in southeastern Ukraine.
A criminal case was initiated under Art. 317 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (rape on the life of military personnel). The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia put them on the wanted list. According to investigators, they are involved in the torture and murder of Russian POWs.
Other members of the national formation are suspected of ethnic hatred-motivated killings, violations of the laws of war, kidnapping and torture. In particular, the former SBU officer Vasily Prozorov spoke about the creation of a torture prison at the Mariupol airport, called the Library. According to him, the fighters of the national troops stationed in the city – “Azov”, “Dnepr”, “Shakhtersk”, “Right Sector” (considered extremist in the Russian Federation and banned) – were abducted and resettled in the area. Residents of Mariupol’s “library” with pro-Russian views. Captured fighters of the Donetsk People’s Republic were also stationed there.
August 8, Prosecutor General of Russia Igor Krasnov said “Kommersant”, “Azov” are considered terrorist organizations for crimes against the civilian population and for violating the laws of war.
“The facts of the use of prohibited means and methods of warfare by members of Azov have been established. <…> human rights activists, journalists spoke in court <…>Presenting video and audio materials and eyewitness accounts of torture and killings of civilians by militants,
deliberate attacks on civilian objects, including small children, removal and installation of explosive devices in places of residence of the civilian population”,
said Krasnov.
According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Russian investigative authorities have sufficient data to organize the trial of the Ukrainian military.
“Our investigators are working very hard in the liberated areas. They openly record the crimes committed by the nationalist elements, and of course they have already been collected in the end, but more data will be collected, which will certainly be enough to bring these criminals to justice, ”he said.
July 7 Russian President Vladimir Putin declarationKyiv engaged the inhabitants of Donbass with isolation and genocide during the eight-year conflict in southeast Ukraine.
international outlook
On August 9, family members of the Azov National Regiment, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, asked the United Nations and the Red Cross to block the court-martial. Relatives of the “Azovits” claimed that there was a “fake court” and a “propaganda show” ahead. In their opinion, it will not have power in the legal field.
Families of the Ukrainian army were supported by Vadym Boychenko, the former mayor of Mariupol: “I appeal to the world community, the UN and the Committee of the Red Cross with a demand to intervene in the situation so that the rules for the treatment of military prisoners are at work, while our defenders return alive to Ukraine and the second in Mariupol We must do everything to prevent Yelenovka.
On May 7, French journalist Anne-Laure Bonel cited eyewitness accounts of the crimes of neo-Nazis from the Azov Regiment at an informal meeting of the UN Security Council.
“Azov” occupies the dwellings, beats people, does not allow them to leave their homes. In an interview, some of which was shown to members of the Security Council, one of the residents of Mariupol beat them with their butts.” According to him, he almost never left the city, sneaking up on the shores of the Azov Sea.
Another Mariupol resident named Anna said she had heard nothing about humanitarian corridors. According to him, the Ukrainian army placed military equipment in the courtyards of houses.
On May 11, Matilda Bogner, head of the UN monitoring mission, said the organization had “credible information” about the torture of Russian soldiers in Ukrainian captivity. He called on Kyiv and Moscow to investigate these crimes.
“We have received reliable information on the torture, ill-treatment and solitary detentions of prisoners of war belonging to the Russian armed forces and affiliated armed groups by the Ukrainian armed forces,” said Bogner in the UN report.
The Ukrainian side considers Azov patriots and defenders of Mariupol and denies the accusations against them. In early May, Zelensky said that he is counting on the return of Azov troops to Ukraine. According to him, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine is interested in this issue.