Japan angry after Russia seeks extradition of ICC chief targeted by US

A senior Japanese government spokesperson said it was regrettable that the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office had requested that Dutch authorities extradite International Criminal Court president Tomoko Akane and eight other officials.

“Time and again we have conveyed to the Russian side that measures targeting individuals connected to the ICC are unfair and unacceptable. We find it regrettable that the Russian side has nevertheless requested various nations to extradite these individuals,” Japan’s Deputy Cabinet Secretary Masanao Ozaki said at a regular news conference on Friday morning.

“We hope to take the appropriate path of action, including issuing further protests against the Russian side regarding this unjust measure, based on continued communication with the ICC and other signatories,” Ozaki added.

Akane is on Russia’s wanted list, along with other ICC officials, over the court’s 2023 arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin on allegations of war crimes in Ukraine. She and other ICC members were tried in absentia and sentenced to prison terms by a Moscow court in 2025.