Japan protests Russia’s extradition requests for ICC president Tomoko Akane and 8 other court staff

TOKYO (AP) — Japan on Friday 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.

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.

A high-ranking Japanese official said Friday that Tokyo has expressed its protest to Moscow over the requests.

“Measures targeting individuals connected to the ICC are unjust and unacceptable,” Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Masanao Ozaki told reporters. “We regret that Russia made extradition requests to multiple countries nevertheless.”

Ozaki said Japan would “respond appropriately, including lodging additional protests.”

His comments came after Russia's Prosecutor General's Office on Thursday submitted requests to the Netherlands and a number of other countries for the extradition of the nine ICC staff, including its president, Tomoko Akane.

Moscow has accused the ICC of issuing arrest warrants against Russian citizens in violation of fundamental principles and norms of international law without any evidence, according to the Russian state news agency Tass.

Relations between Japan and Russia have worsened since Putin visited a Pacific Island chain claimed by Japan in August. The Soviet Union captured the islands from Japan in the final days of World War II, leading to the dispute that has kept the two countries from signing a peace treaty formally ending their hostilities.

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 criticized at home , including for balancing her close alliance with the U.S. with Japan's backing of the Netherlands-based court.

”We have consistently supported the ICC and will continue to do so,” Takaichi told a parliamentary session Friday.

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.