Switzerland passes bill to prosecute 'crimes of aggression'

FILE PHOTO: The Swiss Parliament Building (Bundeshaus) is pictured in Bern, Switzerland October 11, 2021. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

GENEVA (Reuters) - Switzerland's parliament on Thursday approved a bill allowing for the prosecution of the perpetrators of crimes of aggression under the country's own national legislation, a power it had not previously had.

The bill's approval comes hours after a United Nations investigative body said it had found "reasonable grounds" to conclude that Russia's invasion of Ukraine and its attacks against the Ukrainian armed forces qualified as acts of aggression.