America punishes ICC Judge for targeting Israeli leaders

According to Le Monde, Nicolas Guillou, a French judge at the ICC who was recently sanctioned by the United States for his role in authorizing prosecution against Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, senior Israeli officials, says the restrictions have seriously affected both his personal and professional life.

The U.S. Treasury cited Guillou’s involvement in issuing arrest warrants against senior Israeli leaders on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza as the reason for the sanctions. In total, six judges and three prosecutors, including Karim Khan, have been added to Washington’s sanctions list.

Speaking to Le Monde, Guillou said: “The sanctions go far beyond a simple ban on entering the United States. My accounts with companies such as Amazon, Airbnb, and PayPal have been closed, and even simple hotel reservations are cancelled because of the restrictions. I have effectively been excluded from a large part of the global banking system.”

According to him, due to the broad nature of U.S. sanctions, many non-American banks also close the accounts of sanctioned individuals, and any transaction involving U.S. dollars or American-affiliated companies becomes prohibited.

The French judge stressed that political pressure would not affect the independence of ICC judges and that they will continue to administer justice.

He called on European governments to activate the “blocking statute” mechanism to reduce the effects of U.S. sanctions, adding: “Behind the attacks on the Court lies a much bigger question about the rule of law and the protection of victims of war crimes.”

According to Guillou, the ICC has come under greater pressure from major powers than ever before due to its work on highly sensitive cases involving Ukraine, Palestine, and Afghanistan.

According to The Guardian, former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen, in a series of secret meetings, personally threatened the ICC’s chief prosecutor and tried to pressure him into dropping the investigation into war crimes—an effort revealed by The Guardian. A senior Israeli official stated that Cohen’s personal involvement in operations against the ICC took place while he was serving as Mossad director.