Belarusian Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov has dismissed as absurd allegations of crimes against humanity, addressed to him, which Lithuania asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate, reports "Reuters", quoted by News.bg.
Lithuania announced on Monday that it is asking the ICC to investigate alleged crimes committed by its neighbor Belarus under authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko, including forced deportations. The chief prosecutor of the ICC announced that a preliminary investigation will be launched.
"You don't need to be a recognized expert in international law to understand the absurdity and exaggerated nature of the accusations,'' Rizhenkov pointed out in this regard.
He described the Lithuanian move as useless.
The Belarusian opposition in exile claims that around 300,000 people have been forced to flee the country — many of them in Lithuania — after Lukashenko quelled mass protests in 2020, and currently one-thirtieth of Belarusians live in exile.
Without referral from the UN Security Council, the ICC can investigate crimes against humanity committed by a national of or on the territory of states that accept its jurisdiction. Although Belarus is not a signatory, Lithuania has said its neighbor's actions have affected its security interests, obliging it to seek the court's intervention.