Japan on Friday strongly protested Russia's move to seek the extradition of International Criminal Court President Tomoko Akane and eight other ICC staff members, calling Moscow's request "unjust and unacceptable." The diplomatic clash, reported by the Associated Press on October 9, 2026, marks the latest escalation in Russia's long-running campaign against the Hague-based court over its 2023 arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
What Moscow Wants
Russia's Prosecutor General's Office submitted extradition requests on Thursday, October 8, to the Netherlands and several other countries, seeking the handover of nine ICC officials who were convicted in absentia by a Moscow court in December 2025 and sentenced to prison terms ranging from 3.5 to 15 years, according to reports from Kyodo News and the New Voice of Ukraine. Akane, a Japanese national who has served as ICC president since March 2024, was among those named, alongside former ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan and other current and former officials.
Moscow accuses the court 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. Russia does not recognize the ICC's jurisdiction and is not a party to the Rome Statute, the court's founding treaty, which currently has 125 States Parties. Akane had been one of the judges on the chamber that issued the ICC's March 2023 warrants for Putin and Russia's children's rights commissioner over the alleged unlawful deportation and transfer of Ukrainian children from occupied areas of Ukraine.
Why Japan Is Pushing Back
Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Masanao Ozaki told reporters in Tokyo that Japan had already conveyed its protest to Moscow. "Measures targeting individuals connected to the ICC are unjust and unacceptable," Ozaki said, adding: "We regret that Russia made extradition requests to multiple countries nevertheless." He said Tokyo would "respond appropriately, including lodging additional protests," while continuing to coordinate with the ICC and other States Parties.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi reinforced the message in parliament on Friday, telling lawmakers: "We have consistently supported the ICC and will continue to do so." The extradition dispute adds to already worsening Japan-Russia relations, which deteriorated further after Putin visited a disputed Pacific island chain in August. The islands were captured by the Soviet Union in the final days of World War II, a dispute that has kept the two countries from signing a peace treaty formally ending their hostilities.
A Court Under Pressure From Two Sides
Russia is not the only power putting pressure on the ICC. The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump sanctioned senior ICC officials, including Akane, in August over investigations into Israeli officials over the war in Gaza and probes into the conduct of U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan. The U.S. measures freeze any assets held in American jurisdictions by those sanctioned and block the court officials and their families from entering the United States.
The friction with the United States drew criticism at home, prompting Takaichi to raise the matter directly with Trump in a meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September, where the two leaders held what she described as a "frank exchange of views."
The coming days will show whether the Netherlands or any other recipient of Russia's requests acts on them. For now, the episode underscores how the ICC's war-crimes work on Ukraine has turned the court itself into a target — first of U.S. sanctions, and now of a Russian legal offensive aimed directly at its leadership. Japan's unusually blunt response suggests Tokyo has decided that defending the institution matters more than keeping quiet.
Watch: search YouTube for video coverage of Japan's protest over Russia's ICC extradition request
Music in this post's reel: Kevin MacLeod - Long Road Ahead B (incompetech.com), licensed under CC BY 3.0