Georgia Welcomes Arrest Warrant of S. Ossetians Filed in ICC

The Justice Ministry hailed today the decision by the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to apply for arrest warrants of three de facto South Ossetian ex-officials over alleged 2008 war crimes as “one more victory for Georgia.”

“This decision proves once again the gross violations committed against the population of Georgia during the August War are attributable to specific representatives of the Russian Federation and the separatist regimes,” the Justice Ministry said. 

According to the Ministry, this was “a logical continuation of the historic victory” in the European Court of Human Rights, which in 2021 found Russia in breach of six articles of the convention in the aftermath of the Russo-Georgian war.

Georgia’s Justice Ministry stressed that the two decisions “confirm that during the 2008 War, the Georgian military acted in full compliance with the norms of international law.”

The Ministry further nook a good note of the use of term Russian occupation by the ICC prosecutor, Karim Khan, when filing the arrest warrants.

“The Government of Georgia will continue to work actively with The Hague Court to bring to justice all other crimes committed against the people of Georgia,” the Justice Ministry vowed in the statement.

The ICC prosecutor Karim Khan filed the application for the warrants late yesterday.

The investigation began in 2016, when ICC Judges authorized then-Prosecutor Fatou Besnouda to launch a probe into alleged crimes committed in the lead up to, during, and after the August 2008 war in Georgia

Georgia, as a state party to the Rome Statute, is obligated to fully cooperate with ICC – something that does not apply to Russia, because it is not an ICC member.

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