Poland affirms commitment to implement ICC arrest warrant against Netanyahu

WORLD, Dec. 06 (YPA) – Poland has voiced commitment to implement the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrants, including the arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In a statement, Andrzej Szejna, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland, said that his country was committed to cooperating with the ICC in this regard, while noting that the immunity conferred upon heads of states does not apply in this case.

Szejna pointed out that his country adopts an interpretation to the effect that as the rest of the Member States of the Rome Statute of the ICC, Poland shall be committed to implement the arrest warrants issued by and in the name of the ICC, while affirming that immunity and sovereignty that are usually utilized in international relations among states were not applicable to this case.

The Polish diplomat stressed that his country considers the ICC a fundamental element of international criminal justice as well as of law-based international relations.

The ICC has issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, six months after chief prosecutor Karim Khan requested them, marking the first instance in the court’s 22-year history it has issued arrest warrants for western-allied senior officials.

@E.Y.M