Lithuania hands over materials about Lukashenko regime's crimes to The Hague

The Government of Lithuania has officially handed materials related to cross-border crimes against humanity committed against Belarusians by representatives of Alexander Lukashenko's regime over to the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.

The Lithuanian side has come to the conclusion that there are sufficient grounds to believe that Lukashenko and his accomplices are committing crimes against humanity.

Since the crimes in question were committed both within Belarus and in countries that are signatories to the Rome Statute, the ICC potentially has jurisdiction over these cases.

"Lithuania has become the first country to exercise its right under the Rome Statute and ask the International Criminal Court to investigate crimes against humanity committed by the regime in Belarus. We are grateful to the Lithuanian government for its principled decision and actions," said Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the  Belarusian opposition leader.

"A historic precedent has been set," emphasised Pavel Latushka, Deputy Head of the United Transitional Cabinet of Belarus, who arrived in The Hague on Monday. "For the first time in the history of the International Criminal Court, a state party to the Rome Statute has referred a situation in a state that is not a party to the Statute to the Office of the Prosecutor for consideration.

In addition, the ICC will focus on the context of large-scale international crimes in Belarus for the first time."

Last year, the European Parliament approved a decision calling on the ICC to issue an arrest warrant for Lukashenko for his part in the deportation of Ukrainian children.

In June 2023, the Prosecutor's Office of Lithuania began to investigate the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children to Belarus.