BRITAIN stands ready to lock Vladimir Putin up in one of our prisons if he is found guilty of war crimes, the Justice Secretary suggested yesterday.
Dominic Raab warned the Russian despot and his generals face “the dock of a court in The Hague and prison” for their slaughter of innocents.
And he said the UK has a “track record” in leading the charge – including putting notorious warlords Radovan Karadzic and Charles Taylor in British prisons.
The deputy PM said: “The UK has a role to play and we are sending a message out now that we will not just turn the other way.
“However long it takes, if you commit a war crime on Ukrainian soil expect to be held to account.”
Boris Johnson has accused Putin of war crimes for dropping cluster munitions on tower blocks slaughtering defenceless kids.
And the International Criminal Court is investigating Russia for war crimes.
Mr Raab – who used to prosecute war criminals before he became an MP – promised Britain will help the ICC in whatever way they need.
Asked if Putin could end up in Belmarsh if convicted, Mr Raab said: “Look, we have done this before – Charles Taylor, Karadzic.
“If Milosevic had survived he would have come to a high security prison.
“Of course I wouldn’t want to prejudice any step of the legal process.”
But he added that Britain will do whatever is necessary to help the ICC bring about justice.
“We do that by supporting the court on everything from information cooperation, witness relocation, forensics to sentence enforcement”, he added.
He is also planning a new crackdown on Russian oligarchs who use British courts to bully and stifle critics.
Britain will protect freedom of speech in a new Bill of Rights, Mr Raab said.
Ministers are also considering how to curb the crippling legal costs which stop journalists, authors and campaigners being able to fight their cases in court.
He said: “We will not have people close to Putin coming here to try and bankrupt people who shine a light on his excesses.”
As the war in Ukraine sends energy and petrol prices soaring, Mr Raab admitted tough times lie ahead.
But he said Putin must not be allowed to “hold the world to ransom with this gas and energy supplies.”
He added: “I’ll put it this way, if we allow that blackmail to continue, we’ll just get more of it and the situation economically as well as in terms of security would be much worse.”
