Attention is increasingly turning towards the judges responsible for providing 2019’s advisory ICJ opinion on the Chagos Islands – the legal insecurity which Starmer uses as his only justification to hand over the islands. And adherence to which is purely voluntary…
One of the judges, Xue Hanqin, was a Chinese state official and diplomat prior to joining the ICJ. She wasn’t the only one…
Another judge to support the 2019 opinion was Kirill Gevorgian. Formerly of the USSR/Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Gevorgian was appointed by Putin as Russia’s ambassador to the Netherlands back in 2003 – a role he occupied until 2009. Hanqin happened to be China’s ambo there from 2003 to 2008…
After leaving his ambassadorial role Gevorgian returned to Moscow to serve as the legal director for the Russian foreign ministry. He has received four state awards from Putin, including a certificate of honour in 2011 “for active work to protect the interests of the Russian Federation.” Gevorgian voted in 2023, along with Hanqin, against an ruling that Russia should suspend its invasion of Ukraine…
His awards in full:
China and Russia are both very keen on the Chagos surrender deal and it was only a judge from the United States supported the UK in that 2019 advisory ruling. Is Starmer about to hand our enemies their biggest joint legal victory yet…
Speaking to Matt Chorley on BBC 5 Live, Shabana Mahmood was asked what the naughtiest thing she has ever done is:
“I think I took a drag on a cigarette when I was a teenager, when I shouldn’t have done, but it did trigger an asthma attack. And so I figured that was God telling me, don’t smoke.”