Mainstream media reported on US, Russia sanctions on ICC judges

Opposite to the declare, a number of Philippine media shops reported on sanctions imposed by the US over ICC judges’ involvement within the Israel case and by Russia over the issuance of an arrest warrant for Putin

Declare: Mainstream media didn’t report on the sanctions imposed by the USA and Russia on judges of the Worldwide Legal Court docket (ICC), together with the influence of those sanctions.

Ranking: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: Such claims could be present in varied Fb posts circulating on-line. 

One is from an account named Pleasure T. Bantilao, which acknowledged on December 18 that mainstream media had not reported on the US sanctions in opposition to ICC judges, which embrace the freezing of their financial institution accounts. As of writing, the put up has round 2,600 reactions, 1,000 feedback, and 264 shares.

One other is from an account named Maria Fema Duterte, which acknowledged on December 14 that Philippine mainstream media didn’t report Russia’s sanctions on ICC officers, together with the in absentia jail verdicts in opposition to the judges and chief prosecutor Karim Khan. As of writing, the put up has 80 reactions, 4 feedback, and 21 shares. 

The posts appear to recommend that mainstream media selectively reported on information about former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte’s conflict crimes case and detention on the ICC, and omitted experiences about sanctions imposed on the officers of the worldwide courtroom.

The info: Opposite to the declare, varied mainstream media shops within the Philippines reported on the sanctions imposed by the US and Russia in opposition to ICC officers. 

For the information on US sanctions, listed below are examples of experiences that had been up earlier than the December 18 Fb put up from Pleasure T. Bantilao:

• A News5 article dated December 17 titled “US sanctions vs. ICC not linked to Duterte case – lawyer”
• An Inquirer.internet article dated August 21 titled “US sanctions ICC judges, prosecutors tied to Israel, drug conflict probes,” which mentions a ban on proudly owning property and a freeze on belongings within the US for the sanctioned people
• An Inquirer.internet article dated December 2 titled “ICC ‘underneath assault’ by US,  Russia – rights watchdog,” which mentions sanctions like freezing of belongings, bans on entries, and doable refusal of exercise between monetary establishments and people sanctioned by the ICC
• A Rappler article dated December 10 titled “US threatens new ICC sanctions until courtroom pledges to not prosecute Trump.”

For the information on sanctions imposed by Russia, Inquirer.internet posted an article dated December 13 titled “Russia sentences ICC judges, prosecutor over Putin arrest warrant.” The identical hyperlink could be discovered on a put up from their Fb web page.

Outdoors the Philippines, media shops that reported on these sanctions and their influence embrace Reuters, AP Information, CNN, Al-Jazeera, The Financial Instances, and The Moscow Instances.  

On the US and Russian sanctions: In December 2025, the US imposed sanctions on two extra judges of the ICC over their involvement within the courtroom’s November 2024 issuance of arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli protection chief Yoav Gallant over allegations of conflict crimes and crimes in opposition to humanity.

In accordance with a press assertion from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the 2 judges have “instantly engaged in efforts by the ICC to research, arrest, detain, or prosecute Israeli nationals” with out Israel’s consent. 

The US has beforehand issued sanctions on Khan in February 2025, and on ICC officers in June and August final yr, additionally associated to Netanyahu’s and Gallant’s warrants of arrest.

The ICC has not too long ago issued a assertion strongly rejecting the US sanctions.

In December, Russia sentenced Khan and different ICC judges to jail phrases in response to the courtroom’s March 2023 issuance of an arrest warrant for Russian president Vladimir Putin over alleged conflict crimes associated to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. (READ: ICC judges search Putin’s arrest citing conflict crimes in Ukraine)

Neither the US nor Russia is a member of the ICC.

Earlier associated fact-checks: Rappler has fact-checked varied sorts of false claims pertaining to the ICC, particularly concerning Duterte’s crimes in opposition to humanity case.

Examples of those embrace fabricated quotes, false experiences that Duterte has returned to the Philippines after his March 11 arrest, false experiences that his case has been dismissed already, and false claims that the media didn’t report on updates on the ICC and on Duterte’s case. – Percival Bueser/Rappler.com

Percival Bueser is a graduate of Rappler’s fact-checking mentorship program. This reality examine was reviewed by a member of Rappler’s analysis crew and a senior editor. Be taught extra about Rappler’s fact-checking mentorship program right here.

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