Haykel Ben Mahfoudh
Haykel Ben Mahfoudh, born 1971, Moscow. Charges: Article 301 part 2, Russian Criminal Code; “The case concerning the holding of Putin and Lvova-Belova criminally liable”. Sentenced on December 12, 2025. Status: not in Russia.
In brief
Moscow · Moscow · Lawyers
Sentence
Imprisonment (in absentia)
Upheld March 23, 2026
Charges
Full wording of the charges
According to the investigation, he participated in the collegial adoption of "knowingly illegal decisions on the arrest" of Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova in the states parties to the Rome Statute, "having prepared the relevant warrants".
Latest event
March 23, 2026 — appeal
The court upheld the verdict.
Timeline
· Appeal ruling
upheld
· First-instance verdict
guilty verdict
Criminal case
The case concerning the holding of Putin and Lvova-Belova criminally liable
- Case number
- 2-0097/2025
Other defendants in the case
- Rosario Salvatore Aitala — Not in Russia
- Tomoko Akane — Not in Russia
- Alapini-Gansou Reine — Not in Russia
- Sergio Gerardo Ugalde Godinez — Not in Russia
- Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza — Not in Russia
- Karim Ahmad Khan — Not in Russia, 15 years
- Petr Hofmanski — Not in Russia
- Bertram Schmitt — Not in Russia
Details and sources
Full summary
A judge at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. In November 2024, he was arrested in absentia. Presumably, the reason was a case of illegal detention in connection with the decision to arrest in absentia the Minister of Defence Sergey Shoigu and the Head of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov. Whether the case was actually initiated is unknown. It was later reported that a case under the same article was brought against the judge in connection with the prosecution of Putin and Commissioner for Children's Rights Maria Lvova-Belova. On 12 December 2025, Ben Mahfoudh was sentenced in absentia to imprisonment.
All fields of the record
- Citizenship
- Preventive measures
- arrest in absentia
Other people prosecuted under Article 301 part 2, Russian Criminal Code
Under the same article, not necessarily in the same case.