Japan on Friday (October 9, 2026) slammed Russia’s request for the extradition from the Netherlands of the president of the International Criminal Court, a Japanese national, and eight other officials of the court based in the European country.
Japan has also struggled to balance its support for the ICC and ties with the United States, which does not support the court. Also, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has been criticised at home, including for balancing her close alliance with the U.S. with Japan’s backing of the Netherlands-based court. Washington has accused the ICC of overstepping its mandate and has imposed sanctions on Akane and about a dozen other court staffers in retaliation for investigations into Israeli officials over the war in the Gaza Strip and probes into the conduct of U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan. The U.S. measures freeze any assets held in U.S. jurisdictions by those sanctioned and prevent court officials and their families from entering the U.S.
The extradition requests came after Moscow issued warrants for the nine in response to the ICC’s 2023 arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin over the war in Ukraine.
The Moscow City Court last year sentenced the nine in absentia to prison terms.
