'Financial death penalty': ICC judges sue Trump over sanctions linked to Netanyahu warrant
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "'Financial death penalty': ICC judges sue Trump over sanctions linked to Netanyahu warrant")
US President Donald Trump (R) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands as they arrive to speak to journalists during a joint press conference at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, on December 29, 2025. Photograph: (AFP)
Three International Criminal Court judges have sued Donald Trump and his administration, arguing that sanctions imposed against them amounted to a "financial death penalty" designed to punish judicial decisions and pressure the court. All you need to know.
US President Donald Trump and his administration have been sued by three judges of the International Criminal Court over sanctions imposed on them last year. The ICC judges argue that the measures were illegal and designed to pressure the court through financial punishment. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Manhattan, was brought by judges Kimberly Prost of Canada, Solomy Balungi Bossa of Uganda and Reine Adelaide Sophie Alapini-Gansou of Benin. The judges said the sanctions were meant to coerce them and interfere with their judicial independence.
Did Trump try to punish ICC judges?
According to the complaint, the sanctions were intended to punish judges for decisions taken by the court, rather than respond to any genuine national emergency.
Last year, the Trump administration imposed sanctions on several ICC judges in a sharp escalation against the tribunal after it issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and after earlier proceedings involving alleged war crimes by US troops in Afghanistan.
What did these sanctions do?
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The impact of sanctions is wide-ranging. The sanctions severely hamper individuals’ ability to carry out even routine financial transactions, as any bank with ties to the United States or that conducts transactions in dollars is expected to comply with the restrictions.
The judges also said the sanctions had severely disrupted their daily lives, describing the effect as the financial equivalent of a death sentence. They said they could no longer use credit cards, access banking services, book travel, or, in some cases, even obtain health insurance.
"Being subjected to such sanctions under IEEPA is tantamount to the financial death penalty. Due to the sanctions, Judges Prost, Bossa, and Alapini-Gansou are no longer able, among other things, to use credit cards; access banking services; use common online platforms, such as Amazon and Google; book travel; and in some cases, obtain health insurance," it said.
The ICC, based in The Hague and established in 2002, has jurisdiction over genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in its member states. But some major countries, including the United States, China, Russia and Israel, do not recognise its authority.
ICC judges slam ‘Sanctions Regime’
In their lawsuit, the judges said the sanctions exceeded the powers granted under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA. They argued that the law was being stretched beyond its intended use because there was no true emergency or extraordinary threat that justified the penalties.
"The Sanctions Regime ... is designed to exert extra-judicial pressure on these judges and their colleagues on the ICC bench," the lawsuit said, adding that the purpose was to punish them for prior rulings and pressure them to change how they decide cases.
The complaint further claims that the sanctions prevent them from submitting evidence or legal arguments in current or future cases before the court.
