ICC blasts new US sanctions as ‘flagrant attack’ on its independence

The International Criminal Court denounces new US sanctions against two more of its judges and two prosecutors, calling them a “flagrant attack” on its independence.

The four include Judge Nicolas Guillou of France, who is presiding over a case in which an arrest warrant was issued for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Canadian judge Kimberly Prost and deputy prosecutors Nazhat Shameem Khan of Fiji and Mame Mandiaye Niang of Senegal were also hit. Prost was involved in a case that authorized an investigation into alleged crimes committed during the war in Afghanistan, including by US forces.

“These sanctions are a flagrant attack against the independence of an impartial judicial institution,” the court says in a statement.

The ICC says it stands “firmly behind its personnel and victims of unimaginable atrocities.”

It says it will “continue fulfilling its mandates, undeterred” and “without regard to any restriction, pressure or threat.”

Four other judges and the court’s prosecutor had already been placed under sanctions.