Prosecutor of Hague ICC suspects authorities of South Ossetia of ethnic cleansing
Fatou Bensouda, Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, has asked for permission to start the investigation into the armed conflict in South Ossetia in 2008 in connection with the information on possible war crimes.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the ICC has asked Russia to provide the information concerning the investigation into war crimes committed in South Ossetia in 2008. This was reported on October 6 by Alexander Bastrykin, Chief of the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF).
On August 8, 2008, the combat actions broke out between Georgia and South Ossetia. Russia soon broke in the conflict. The combat actions lasted for five days. On August 26, Russian President signed decrees recognizing the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Georgia broke off diplomatic relations with Russia.
The website of the International Criminal Court reports that, according to the Office of the Prosecutor, "51-113 Georgian citizens were killed during the campaign of forced eviction."
It should be noted that earlier, Simon Papuashvili, the project manager of the human rights organization "International Partnership for Human Rights", has stated that if the commission of crimes during the 2008 conflict is proved, then people can expect the issue of warrants for arrest of Russian President Vladimir Putin and former Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili.
Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.