UN experts condemn Moscow court’s convictions in absentia of ICC prosecutor, judges

UN human rights experts on Wednesday condemned a Moscow court's conviction in absentia of the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and eight sitting judges, calling the move "a flagrant violation of international law."

On Dec. 12, the Moscow City Court sentenced ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan and eight judges on charges linked to what Russian authorities described as the "unlawful prosecution of Russian citizens." The officials were handed prison terms ranging from 3.5 to 15 years, with Khan receiving 15 years, and were declared internationally wanted.

"These convictions are legally null and void under international law," the experts said in a statement. "It is an unprecedented attempt to criminalize the exercise of independent judicial and prosecutorial functions of an international court."

They said the charges stem from the ICC's work on alleged war crimes tied to Russia's war in Ukraine, including arrest warrants issued in 2023 for President Vladimir Putin and Russia's children's rights commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova over the alleged deportation and transfer of children from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation.

The experts stressed that ICC judges and prosecutors are protected by functional immunity under the Rome Statute and that domestic courts cannot prosecute them for official acts.

They added that trials in absentia without proper notification or legal representation "fall short of minimum due process standards" and called on Russia to annul the convictions and withdraw the warrants.

"No State may invoke sovereignty to shield itself from accountability," they said, adding: "Attempts by Russia or other UN Member States to undermine the ICC through reprisals against judicial independence and intimidation of the ICC's officials must end."