US sanctions ICC president, senior trial lawyer in latest attack on court

WASHINGTON - The U.S. imposed ​sanctions on Tuesday on the International Criminal Court's president and a senior trial lawyer at the court, Secretary of State Marco Rubio ‌said. The move is the latest escalation in the Trump administration's campaign against The Hague-based court, which was established in 2002 by the international community to prosecute war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. The U.S. is not a member of the court.

Rubio said in a statement that he was imposing sanctions on Tomoko Akane, a Japanese judge who is president of ​the ICC, and Abdoulaye Seye, a senior trial lawyer and a Senegalese national, under a Trump executive order last year authorizing sanctions against ​the court.

"These individuals have directly engaged in efforts by the ICC to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute officials whose government ⁠has not consented to ICC jurisdiction," Rubio said.

The ICC condemned the move, saying in a statement that the measures undermine the rule of law.

"When judicial ​actors are threatened for applying the law, it is the international legal order itself that is placed at risk," the ICC said. ---More...

???? IT'S OFFICIAL: The globalists are furious after Sec. Marco Rubio just slapped SANCTIONS on International Criminal Court President Tomoko Akane and Senior Trial Lawyer Abdoulaye Seye

The ICC is being obliterated in REAL TIME ????

"In honor of our Declaration of Independence,… pic.twitter.com/m290UuvBbb

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh)August 18, 2026