By Nur Ashikin Abdul Aziz
KUALA LUMPUR, March 7 (Bernama) -- Ukraine is seeking several provisional measures in connection with its case against Russia at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to provide urgent protection and prevent the dispute between the two sides from being aggravated.
Ukrainian Ambassador to Malaysia, Olexander Nechytaylo, said that the measures included requesting Russia to halt and prevent supply of weapons and transfer of money to groups committing terrorist attacks in Ukraine.
"We also request that Russia be ordered to take all measures to restrain all groups it supplies from engaging in terrorist attacks against civilians," he said in a statement issued to Bernama on the hearing of the provisionary measures, which began at the ICJ on Monday.
The Court's rules allow a state that brings a case to seek provisional measures, a binding orders of the court to take or refrain from certain action, because proceedings at the ICJ based in The Hague in the Netherlands take time.
Generally, a decision on provisional measures is given within one to two months after the hearing.
Ukraine had in January took Russia to court claiming before the ICJ that Russia is violating two treaties; the Terrorism Financing Convention and the Racial Discrimination Convention.
At the provisional hearing, Kiev led by the country's Deputy Foreign Minister Olena Zerkal, also wants Russia to refrain from any act of racial or ethnic discrimination in Crimea, halt the disappearances of Crimean Tatar individuals, as well as suspend restrictions on Ukrainian-language education.
Ukraine also wants the ICJ to order Russia to suspend the prohibition on Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, the highest executive-representative body of the Crimean Tatars, which Russia outlawed after annexation of Crimea.
Besides Zerkal, Ukraine's Agent, Prof. Harold Koh of Yale Law School, and Marney Cheek, Jonathan Gimblett, and David Zionts of Covington & Burling LLP also made up the team.
The Ukrainian delegation to The Hague also includes representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Police, Office of the Prosecutor General, Security Service, Ministry of Defence, Administration of the President, and the Office of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights.
"We expect Russia to respect the outcome of this proceeding and comply with any decision by the ICJ," Nechytaylo said.