ICC’s Karim Khan Set to Be 1st Member Sanctioned by Trump

By Staff, Agencies

International Criminal Court [ICC] Prosecutor Karim Khan will be the first individual to be sanctioned by United States President Donald Trump.

Khan was named in an annex, that has not been made public yet, to an executive order signed by the US president on Thursday, the news agency reported, citing an ICC official and another source briefed by the US administration.

After signing the order, the US president now has broad powers to freeze assets and impose travel bans on ICC staff and their families. The sanctions would be imposed if Washington determines that staff members are involved in efforts to investigate or prosecute Americans and some of the US's allies, including “Israelis”.

Trump claimed that the ICC has “abused its power” by issuing arrest warrants, which he believed “set a dangerous precedent.” The US president said that the warrants endanger US citizens and US military personnel.

“This malign conduct in turn threatens to infringe upon the sovereignty of the United States and undermines the critical national security and foreign policy work of the United States government and our allies, including ‘Israel’,” Trump asserted.

The warrants issued by the ICC for “Israeli” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Security Minister Yoav Gallant followed months of deliberation by the court. The ICC issued these warrants for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the top “Israeli” officials.