ICC judges sue US President Donald Trump over sanctions

Three International Criminal Court judges on Wednesday sued US President Donald Trump and his administration over sanctions imposed on them last year, arguing the measures were unlawful.

In the lawsuit filed in the federal court in Manhattan,

judges Kimberly Prost of Canada, Solomy Balungi Bossa of Uganda and Reine Adelaide Sophie Alapini-Gansou of Benin said the sanctions were designed to exert extrajudicial pressure with the objective of punishing and coercing the judges.

The State and Treasury departments and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Trump administration imposed sanctions on several judges at the International Criminal Court last year in retaliation over the war tribunal's issuance of an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a past decision to open a case into alleged war crimes by US troops in Afghanistan.