ICC ‘turf war’ blocking Ukrainian bid to have top Russians tried, advocate says

The international criminal court at The Hague, where a prosecutor and unnamed judges have been accused of blocking the establishment of a special international tribunal. Photograph: Peter Dejong/AP

The international criminal court is locked in a deplorable turf war that is blocking Ukraine’s efforts to set up a special international tribunal with the authority to try Russia’s leadership for the crime of aggression, Philippe Sands KC claims.

Sands, a leading advocate of an international tribunal, blamed the deadlock on Karim Khan, the ICC prosecutor, and some unnamed judges on the court, an international body based in The Hague that prosecutes people for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression. He said they were opposing a special international tribunal not on the basis of principle, but because of a self-interested turf war.