Japan on Friday slammed Russia's request that the Netherlands extradite the president of the International Criminal Court, a Japanese national, and eight other officials of the court based in The Hague.
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.
Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Masanao Ozaki told reporters that Tokyo has expressed its protest to Moscow over the requests. "Measures targeting individuals connected to the ICC are unjust and unacceptable," Ozaki said. "We regret that Russia made extradition requests to multiple countries nevertheless."
ICC President Tomoko Akane is among the nine court officials targeted by Russia's extradition demands. The warrants were issued by Moscow in response to the international court's 2023 decision to seek Putin's arrest related to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.