The administration of US President Donald Trump has imposed sanctions on two more International Criminal Court (ICC) judges, including Georgian judge Gocha Lortkipanidze, over their involvement in the case against Israel.
The US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday that Lortkipanidze, alongside with the Judge Erdenebalsuren Damdin of Mongolia, have ‘directly engaged in efforts by the ICC to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute Israeli nationals, without Israel’s consent’.
Rubio specifically referred to the 15 December decision of the Hague-based ICC by which it ruled against one of Israel’s appeals to stop the Gaza war-related probe. Both judges were part of the panel.
According to Reuters, the measures against them mean the judges cannot travel to the US or hold any assets there. The news agency noted that the sanctions also make it virtually impossible for those targeted to hold credit cards, making everyday financial transactions and online purchases difficult.
Reacting to the sanctions, the ICC called them a ‘flagrant attack against the independence of an impartial judicial institution which operates pursuant to the mandate conferred by its states parties from across regions’.
‘Such measures targeting judges and prosecutors who were elected by the states parties undermine the rule of law. When judicial actors are threatened for applying the law, it is the international legal order itself that is placed at risk’, the ICC said.
Prior to the latest sanctions, the US had already sanctioned nine ICC officials, including judges and prosecutors. These measures followed ICC investigations into Israel, including arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Lortkipanidze was elected as a judge at the ICC in December 2020 and began his term in the following year. In addition, he served as Georgia’s Justice Minister in 2020–2021, and prior to that as Deputy Justice Minister from 2013 to 2020.
Lortkipanidze is the first Georgian to hold the post of ICC judge.
