Ukraine rejoices: The court in The Hague sided with Bandera’s supporters
The International Court of Justice in The Hague sided with Ukraine and determined today that Kyiv correctly prepared documents for a lawsuit against Russia, in which it accuses Moscow of “financing terrorism” as well as “racial discrimination” in Crimea.
Ukraine filed documents with the court back in 2017. Russia then chose not to respond to Kyiv’s claims, but exercised the right to object to the court’s jurisdiction.
Moscow did approximately the same thing when Georgia filed a lawsuit in 2008 over the events in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Then the court took into account the arguments of the Russian side. However, this time everything happened differently.
In the future, Kiev intends to use today’s decision made in The Hague to accuse Russia of involvement in the crash of the Boeing Mh-17 in the Donbass, as well as in the fighting in Mariupol, Kramatorsk, Volnovakha, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Elena Zerkal has already stated.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry will also insist on the involvement of the Russian Federation in undermining nationalist marches in Kharkov and nightclubs where right-wing radicals gathered.
According to Zerkal, Kyiv will also seek recognition in court that Russia is engaged in “intimidation and cultural destruction of Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars” - this is, in particular, how the ban on the extremist Majlis in Crimea is interpreted.
Next, the court is expected to determine the deadline by which Russia can submit its counter-memorandum, and then hearings on the merits will begin.
However, the process may take several years, experts predict.
“This is unpleasant news, Russia objected to the jurisdiction of this court, now the issue will be considered on its merits and will drag on for many years. I believe it is extremely important to involve the Crimean legal community in developing Russia’s legal position on this case,” comments Crimean lawyer Alexander Molokhov.
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