US sanctions ICC president over court’s investigations

The United States has imposed sanctions on International Criminal Court (ICC) President Tomoko Akane and senior trial lawyer Abdoulaye Seye, escalating the Trump administration's campaign against the Hague-based court. Akane, a Japanese judge, and Seye, a Senegalese national, were sanctioned under an executive order signed by President Donald Trump last year.

The sanctions aim to prevent the ICC from investigating, arresting, detaining, or prosecuting officials whose government has not consented to ICC jurisdiction. The measures freeze any US assets held by the sanctioned individuals and cut them off from the US financial system. The US cited the ICC's arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as a previous investigation into US troops in Afghanistan, when announcing the sanctions.

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