Three judges from the International Criminal Court (ICC), sanctioned by the Trump administration, filed a complaint on Wednesday against the president and other senior US officials, arguing that the measures taken against them were illegal.
In a complaint filed in New York, Canadian judge Kimberly Prost, Solomy Balungi Bossa of Uganda and Reine Adelaide Sophie Alapini-Gansou of Benin said the sanctions were aimed at “exerting extrajudicial pressure.”
Several ICC magistrates, including the attorney general, have been sanctioned by the Trump administration.
The sanctions ban judges from entering the United States and block any real estate or financial transactions with them in the world’s largest economy.
These sanctions mainly constitute a response to the investigations carried out by the ICC, which sits in The Hague, against Israel, an ally of the United States, and which notably issued arrest warrants in 2024 against the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
The complaint filed Wednesday indicates that the sanctions are intended to “punish” them and that they amount to “a financial death sentence.”
“Imposing such draconian sanctions against international judges is unprecedented,” says the 66-page complaint, calling for their lifting.
In addition to President Donald Trump, the complaint also targets Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Finance Minister Scott Bessent.
Established in 2002, the ICC prosecutes individuals accused of the worst atrocities such as war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
Neither Israel nor the United States are party to the international treaty that established the ICC, just like Russia, whose President Vladimir Putin has also been the subject of an arrest warrant since March 2023.
