Several judges on the International Criminal Court, a court that the United States does not recognize, have demanded in a U.S. court that Trump administration sanctions on them be lifted.
It’s because those sanctions hit at their bank accounts, travel plans, evidence gathering and much more, which is exactly the intent of the actions.
The complicated situation comes in a contest between the ICC and the administration of President Donald Trump, who in an executive order last year imposed those sanctions over the individuals’ involvement in actions against Afghanistan and Israeli leaders over the war in Afghanistan, as well as Americans.
A report at Courthousenews said Kimberly Prost, Solomy Bossa and Reine Alapini Gansou of that international organization have gone to U.S. federal court in New York demanding the Trump administration unblock their frozen properties and they be subject to no enforcement measures.
The judges complained in a statement that the sanctions “deeply affected many aspects of our personal lives.” They claim the sanctions are “an attack on judicial independence and a threat to the important work of the court to deliver justice for victims of grave crimes.”
The court was created in 2002 but never has been formally recognized by the United States. It routinely acts in support of leftist agendas.
The judges said the sanctions were intended to push them to make certain decisions, when the judges really need to be “faithfully discharge[ing] their judicial offices by rendering decisions with which the administration disagrees.”
Trump’s order declares an emergency and allows sanctions against foreign nationals “involved in ICC investigations or prosecutions targeting U.S. citizens or nationals of allied countries that do not recognize the court’s jurisdiction.”
The sanctions only freeze U.S. assets but they also bar Americans from providing funding or services to them, and the judges said that leaves them without access to bank accounts, online services, health insurance, credit cards, and more.
The judges are claiming the president exceeded his authority, the measures clash with federal laws, violate due process and are arbitrary.
The report said the next step in the fight will be for the Department of Justice to respond.
Imagine being a judge and getting sanctioned because Trump admin didn’t like your ruling, well.. this is basically, “You sanctioned us for our ruling, see you in court.”
Three judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) have filed a lawsuit in the federal court in… pic.twitter.com/OZ0wwF6KEr
— Conscious Stranger (@aware_wanderer) June 25, 2026
Earlier, the Trump administration sanctioned Francesa Albanese, another U.N. official who routinely opposes the Israeli government.
She went to court claiming the sanctions should be lifted, and a district judge agreed, only to be overturned by an appeals court which ruled that her claim of First Amendment protections was invalid because she’s not American and she’s not on U.S. soil.
She was punished for engaging “in illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel.”
She had lobbied for the ICC to arrest prominent Israeli officials.
Experts pointed out Albanese isn’t a U.S. citizen, is not living in the U.S., and the odds “are probably against her succeeding.”
