Russia wants NL to hand over ICC judges

Russia has asked the Netherlands to hand over nine International Criminal Court (ICC) officials who were convicted in absentia last year.

The prosecutor’s office in Moscow requested the extradition of the court’s president, Tomoko Akane, and other staff members for their involvement in the arrest warrant of Russian president Vladimir Putin.

The ICC issued the warrant for Putin’s alleged involvement in “the war crime of unlawful deportation of children” from occupied Ukraine.

The ICC has also issued an arrest warrant against Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights.

In December, a court in Moscow convicted Akane and others in absentia, sentencing them to prison terms ranging from 3.5 to 15 years.

Japan, Akane’s home country, said the request was regrettable. “Measures targeting individuals connected to the ICC are unjust and unacceptable,” Masanao Ozaki, the country’s deputy chief cabinet secretary, said.

The United States has also sanctioned 13 staff members, including Akane, over the investigation into alleged Israeli war crimes in Gaza.