The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court plans to open an investigation into possible crimes committed during the 2008 conflict between Russia and Georgia, bringing Russia into the court's sights for the first time.
In a statement on Thursday, the court said Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda had concluded there was a “reasonable basis to believe” crimes had been committed during the short war over the breakaway Georgian province of South Ossetia.
Judges must shortly decide whether to authorise the opening of an investigation, which will pit non-member Russia, an opponent of the court, against the European-backed permanent global war crimes court for the first time.
The ICC is still considering whether to open a full investigation into crimes committed on the territory of Ukraine, which is locked in a war against Moscow-backed separatists in its east.
