The presidents of the European Council and European Commission expressed solidarity Wednesday with the International Criminal Court (ICC) after the US imposed sanctions on the court’s president and a senior lawyer in its prosecutor’s office, Anadolu reports.
European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen posted statements on US social media company X, saying they stand firmly with the ICC, its President Tomoko Akane, and court officials.
“The ICC helps deliver justice to the victims of some of the world’s most horrific crimes. To carry out this essential work, its judges and officials must be able to act independently and without external pressure,” they both said.
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The latest sanctions target Akane, a Japanese national, and Abdoulaye Seye of Senegal, a senior trial lawyer in the Office of the Prosecutor, the Hague-based court said in a statement.
