Trading Looted Commodities Could Be a War Crime, Swiss AG Says

The trading of looted commodities could constitute a war crime, Switzerland’s top prosecutor said in a thinly veiled warning to any company considering trading in coal, grain or other foodstuffs reportedly pillaged from Ukraine.

In an opinion piece for Le Temps newspaper on Wednesday, Swiss Attorney General Stefan Blaettler sketched out how economic crimes committed abroad could also be pursued by local prosecutors if linked to Swiss entities. Even if international criminal law typically invokes images of genocide or other crimes against humanity, some offenses committed far from an ongoing conflict may still have a direct link to it and ...