‘Appalling’: ICC president says threats, sanctions put court in jeopardy
Al Jazeera
US politicians are threatening to sanction court officials over the arrest warrant against Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu.
The president of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has warned that attacks on the tribunal, which have come largely from Washington and Moscow, “jeopardise its very existence”.
Addressing ICC members in The Hague at an annual conference on Monday, ICC President Tomoko Akane said the court faced “coercive measures, threats, pressure and acts of sabotage” without naming the United States and Russia.
The court has been facing rebukes from the two countries after issuing arrest warrants for Israeli and Russian officials over wars in Gaza and Ukraine.
“The court is being threatened with draconian economic sanctions by another permanent member of the Security Council as if it was a terrorist organisation,” Akane said in her address.
US politicians have been threatening to impose sanctions on ICC officials after the tribunal issued arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant over suspected war crimes in Gaza.
