Go and consider

The 1st board of preliminary trials of the International Criminal Court in The Hague as part of Joyce Aluokh (presiding), Kuno Tarfussore and Peter Kovaca authorized the prosecutor Musa Fatu Bensuda to conduct a investigation of crimes committed in South Ossetia from July 1 to October 10, 2008. This was reported on the website of the Hague Tribunal.

The decision was made on the request, which Bensuda sent on October 13, 2015 in accordance with Article 15 of the Roman Statute, which regulates the authority of the prosecutor. On December 4, the board received statements by 6335 victims or their representatives.

As noted, after studying these materials, the judges saw good reasons for the investigation, concluding that the crimes in question are falling under the jurisdiction of the Hague Tribunal. "These are crimes against humanity - the extermination, movement and persecution of the population - as well as war crimes - attacks on the civilian population, intentional murders, deliberate attacks on peacekeepers, destruction of property and looting - allegedly committed during the international armed conflict from July 1 to October 10, 2008," the Musa said.

Earlier it was reported that Bensuda intends to study the actions of both parties to the conflict. According to the prosecutor, there are evidence of the death of up to 113 Georgian civilians, as well as evictions of 18.5 thousand people in the framework of the "campaign of violent movement" conducted by the authorities of South Ossetia. "The ethnic Georgian population in the conflict zone decreased by at least 75 percent," the prosecutor noted. It was indicated that the crimes were committed with "the possible participation of the Russian armed forces."

The evidence of the attack of both parties on peacekeepers was also reported. As a result of the shelling of the South Ossetian militants, two Georgian peacekeepers were killed. Georgian troops are suspected of killing 10 Russian peacekeepers and the destruction of a medical institution.

On October 8, the head of the Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, said that the Hague tribunal requested Russia's investigation of war crimes in South Ossetia in 2008. Bastrykin did not rule out that this is "also a kind of sanction." According to him, the Georgian side will present its counterarguments. “They will begin to squeeze us there for sure, accusing us of aggression,” said the head of the TFR. At the same time, he noted that Russia since 2008 tried to introduce the materials of its investigation into the Mus.