The president of the International Criminal Court said Wednesday there is no reason she has to face U.S. sanctions, adding that she is asking Japan’s government to work with Washington to avoid further escalating tensions.
Last week Tomoko Akane, a Japanese national, became the latest court member to be hit with sanctions that freeze any assets they have in U.S. jurisdictions. The sanctions also prevent the court officials and their families from entering the United States and block their access to even basic financial services.
Washington accuses the court of overstepping its mandate and has slapped sanctions on about a dozen court staff in retaliation for investigations into Israeli officials in Gaza and U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan.
Trump’s administration has now sanctioned nine out of the ICC’s 18 judges, both of its deputy prosecutors, its former chief prosecutor and one other prosecution office staffer.
“I insist that there is no reason I have to be sanctioned,” Akane told a news conference she joined by video from The Hague. She said the sanctions, which she had expected, have not intimidated her and will not affect her judicial work. “ICC will never be defeated. Justice will and should prevail.”
