ICC president: We will not yield to US sanctions

Tehran - BORNA - Tomoko Akane, the Japanese judge who serves as ICC president and has previously been sanctioned by the United States, said Wednesday, “Even if sanctions are imposed on the ICC itself, we will not surrender. Our resolve is firm.”

According to Japan’s Kyodo News, Akane added, “We must not allow the ICC, a permanent institution, to collapse, and we will resist with all our strength.”

“Japan has strongly supported the ICC among its member states and pays the largest assessed contribution. That is why I believe everyone looks to Japan as a leader,” she said.

“Of course, there may be weaker countries that could yield to US pressure and decide to withdraw from the ICC,” Akane added.

Stressing that she harbors no hostility toward any particular country or government, the ICC president said, “We are simply a court tasked with investigating and prosecuting individuals who have committed the world’s gravest crimes. What I want people to understand clearly is that we absolutely do not act as an enemy of any government or country.”

“The United States has long accused the ICC of being a corrupt organization that abuses its power and seizes the resources of sovereign countries, but I have never engaged in such conduct,” she continued.

“There is no justification for the United States to impose sanctions on me, and I will withstand any adverse consequences,” Akane said.

The United States is not a member of the ICC. Last year, Washington imposed targeted sanctions on several ICC officials, including prosecutors and judges, citing the court’s arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli regime’s former war minister, Yoav Gallant, as well as its previous investigations into US forces in Afghanistan.

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