Rees: Putin should be investigated for war crimes

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Vladimir Putin should be investigated for war crimes, says the mayor of Bristol.

Marvin Rees told a council meeting that the invasion of Ukraine was an “atrocity” but that he distinguished between the Russian people and its leader.

And while the mayor spoke of how the city was ready to welcome refugees fleeing the war, he called on the Government to provide the money needed to make this happen.

He also highlighted racism both against people of Asian and African descent being blocked from escaping the country and by journalists covering the invasion on the basis that they relate more to “European people with blonde hair and blue eyes” than those from places like Syria or Yemen, a quote Mr Rees incorrectly attributed to a journalist.

Bristol City Hall was lit in the colours of Ukraine on Sunday night – photo: Martin Booth

The mayor told Bristol City Council cabinet on Thursday, March 3: “Our thoughts and prayers are with the people who are experiencing trauma, tragedy, death, loss, displacement right now.

“We as a city stand ready to support the people of Ukraine in whatever way we can.

“Very early doors we made clear that in line with us being a City of Sanctuary we want to step up but we need to do that with government resource as well.

“Whether we are talking about Syrians, unaccompanied children in the Calais camps, Afghans, we are a city that wants to welcome people as a place of hope and sanctuary, but we have been very clear to government that this needs to come with support.

“What we can’t do is bring people here and not support them properly or adequately. That is not a good situation for them.”

He said the people of Bristol had “stepped up” with offers of support and that the connectivity between residents and Ukrainians was “surprisingly immediate”.

Mr Rees said he had spoken previously in support of his friend Alexei Navalny, the jailed Russian opposition campaigner, who the mayor studied with and lived next door to at Yale, who “Putin’s cohort tried to poison and murder”.

The mayor told the City Hall meeting: “We have been very clear in our condemnation of Putin’s actions.

“We want to make clear that we are distinguishing between Putin and the Russian people. We think about the many thousands who are protesting, thousands who have been arrested over the years.

“So we absolutely stand four square against the atrocity and we welcome any moves to investigate Putin for war crimes.

“But I would also ask us to make sure that when we are standing for these principles of openness and justice we do it across the piece and I cannot unsee what I’ve seen or unhear what I’ve heard.

“When we see incidents of racism being meted out on people of Asian and African heritage trying to flee Ukraine, that needs to stop, and we need everyone – leadership in Ukraine and international bodies supporting refugees – to be clear that that is not okay.

“This is an issue for Ukrainian leadership and for the bordering countries who are taking people from Ukraine to make sure they are taking people equally, and it’s an issue for us in other European countries who will be ultimate destination countries.

“We cannot have a system working around crises such as this that are two-tier.”

Several protests and vigils have been held in Bristol in solidarity with Ukraine – photo: Martin Booth

Main photo: Martin Booth

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