Belarus Weekly: Lithuania urges ICC to investigate Lukashenko for crimes against humanity

Lithuania has formally requested that the International Criminal Court or ICC investigate alleged crimes against humanity by the regime of Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko .

The case relies on the Myanmar/Bangladesh precedent, in which a state party to the Rome Statute filed a case on crimes allegedly committed by Myanmar , which is not a signatory, maintaining that the crimes affected the said state party.

Lithuania , which previously succeeded in bringing charges against Russian President Vladimir Putin , said it is now seeking an arrest warrant for the dictator.

Around 300,000 Belarusians have fled the country in fear of persecution, which may constitute the crime of mass deportation.

International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi arrived in Belarus on Oct. 1 for high-level meetings and a visit to the country’s controversial Astraviets nuclear power plant.

Grossi and a team of experts were to assess the situation at the nuclear plant, which has been in operation for the past four years , and examine Belarus ’ progress in “addressing the findings of an IAEA operational safety review in 2021 ”.

The Kastus Kalinouski regiment and its members engaged in “recruiting, arming, training and employing terrorists” as well as “financing terrorist activities” The formation, consisting of Belarusian nationals, was incorporated in the Ukrainian Armed Forces in March 2022 .

The regiment, in an official statement, said it considers the designation “another step by the dictator toward the possible expansion of the war, and an additional declaration of loyalty to Moscow ”.