ICC receives the European Union’s Sakharov Prize

The International Criminal Court (ICC) received the Sakharov Prize on Thursday, the European Union’s top human rights award. In Strasbourg, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola praised the court’s role in defending international law, while ICC President Tomoko Akane stressed the importance of independent judicial institutions. The award comes days after the United States announced new sanctions against the ICC, accusing it of investigating the US and its allies, including through its arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over alleged crimes in Gaza. Established in 1988, the prize is named after Soviet dissident and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Andrei Sakharov.