Ukraine Agrees to Let ICC Probe Protest Crimes
Ukraine has accepted the International Criminal Court's jurisdiction to probe crimes committed before and during the fall of ex-president Viktor Yanukovych, the Hague-based ICC said on Thursday.
"Today the registrar received a declaration lodged by Ukraine accepting the ICC's jurisdiction with respect to alleged crimes committed in its territory from November 21, 2013 to February 22, 2014,"
"The declaration has been transmitted to the ICC's Office of the Prosecutor for further consideration," it added.
The acceptance of the ICC's jurisdiction "does not automatically trigger an investigation", the world crimes court added, saying it was up to its chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to decide whether or not to ask judges to open a probe.
Ukraine has not signed up to the ICC's founding Rome Statute, but can ask for a probe to be opened.
Its parliament called in February for the International Criminal Court to prosecute Yanukovych for the "mass murder" of protesters in Kiev calling for him to stand down, a crisis that sparked the current Russia-Ukraine standoff.
Source: Agence France Presse
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