US sanctions ICC president, senior trial lawyer on team seeking Netanyahu's arrest
The Trump administration has imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court's president and a senior prosecutor involved in seeking an arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu. The U.S. government claims the ICC is a politicized body that exceeds its mandate by targeting officials from non-member nations.
Why it matters
This move marks a significant escalation in the diplomatic conflict between the U.S. and international judicial institutions regarding state sovereignty.
The Trump administration has imposed sanctions on the president of the International Criminal Court and one of its top prosecutors as it continues a campaign to dismantle the tribunal, which it accuses of trying to unfairly prosecute US and Israeli soldiers for alleged crimes in Afghanistan, Iraq and Gaza.
The State Department said Tuesday it had hit ICC president Tomoko Akane, a Japanese national, and ICC senior trial lawyer Abdoulaye Seye, who is from Senegal, with sanctions that freeze any assets they have in US jurisdictions or come into contact with the US financial system.
“The Trump administration has been clear: the International Criminal Court is a corrupt and fatally politicized supranational court that has maliciously abused its authority and exceeded its mandate,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement. “We will not tolerate its assault on state sovereignty.”
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