What does the World Court's arrest warrant mean for Presiden

What does the World Court's arrest warrant mean for President Putin?

What does the World Court's arrest warrant mean for President Putin Russian President Vladimir Putin may not soon be seen in a cell at The Hague, but an arrest warrant for his war crimes could hamper his free travel and meetings with other world leaders.

According to Reuters, Putin is the third head of state to be indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) while in power. What consequences can the president of Russia suffer after the arrest warrant?

What is the case?

The ICC said it had issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes. He has been accused of deporting hundreds of Ukrainian children and illegally sending them to the Russian Federation.
The Kremlin has denied these allegations and the Russian Foreign Minister has said that "the decision of the ICC has no meaning for our country and from a legal point of view."

Travel abroad

The 123 member countries of the International Criminal Court (ICC) can hand over President Putin to the Court. Russia is not a member state, nor are China, the United States, or India, which will host the G20 group of major economies later this year.
The International Criminal Court was established under the Rome Statute, which was ratified by all EU countries, plus Australia, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, Mexico, Switzerland, 33 African countries, and 19 South Pacific countries.

Russia signed the Rome Statute in 2000 but withdrew from the treaty in 2016 after the ICC classified Moscow's annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea as an armed conflict.
"Putin is not stupid enough not to travel to a country where he is likely to be arrested," said Eva Vukosek, a professor of history at the University of Utrecht.
He added that he would not be able to travel outside of countries that are either clearly allied or at least somewhat allied with Russia.

Past experience with ICC

Sudan's former president Omar al-Bashir and Libya's Muammar Gaddafi are the only heads of government indicted by the ICC while acting as heads of state. Charges against Muammar Gaddafi were dropped after he was ousted and killed in 2011. Omar al-Bashir, who was charged with genocide in Darfur in 2009, served as president for a decade until he was ousted in a coup. 

He was subsequently prosecuted for other crimes in Sudan but not extradited to the ICC.
During his tenure, he traveled to several Arab and African countries, including ICC member states Chad, Djibouti, Jordan, Kenya, Malawi, South Africa, and Uganda. These countries refused to detain them. Due to the violation of the court's order, the ICC approached the United Nations Security Council.

After leaving office, the ICC prosecuted Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo and acquitted him in 2019 after three years. Both Kenyan President William Ruto and his successor, Uhuru Kenyatta, were indicted by the ICC before they were elected, but the charges against them were later dropped.
Kenyatta is the only leader to appear before the ICC while in office.

  Other Courts

Apart from the ICC, several former leaders have been prosecuted by international courts.
After World War II, the former president of Serbia and Yugoslavia, Slobodan Milošević, was the first head of state to appear before an international tribunal. He was tried in the UN court for war crimes during the Balkan war in the 1990s. He died in custody in 2006 before the verdict.

Former Liberian leader Charles Taylor was found guilty of war crimes by the UN Special Court in 2012.
Former President of Kosovo Hashim Thaci who was one of the opponents of former President of Serbia and Yugoslavia Slobodan Milošević in the Balkan Wars in the 90s. The Hague indicted him for war crimes for his negative role in the country's ongoing conflict in the 1990s. They are likely to be arraigned next month.