Former ICC chief prosecutor says she faced threats and ‘thug-style tactics’

Fatou Bensouda, who was the international criminal court’s chief prosecutor between 2012 and 2021, insisted the threats against her did not hinder her work. Photograph: Peter Dejong/AP

The former chief prosecutor of the international criminal court (ICC) Fatou Bensouda has said she was subjected to “thug-style tactics”, threats and intimidation while in office.

Bensouda, who held the post between 2012 and 2021, said that when she was working on some the court’s most politically sensitive cases she experienced “direct threats to my person and family”.