Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office seeks Netherlands extradition of 9 ICC officials

MOSCOW, October 8. /TASS/. Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office has sent the Netherlands a request for the extradition of nine representatives of the International Criminal Court (ICC) who were convicted in absentia in Russia, including ICC President Piotr Hofmanski and Prosecutor Karim Khan, the Russian supervisory authority’s press service said.

"The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office has sent requests to the Ministry of Justice and Security of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, as well as to a number of other countries, for the detention and extradition of International Criminal Court President P. Y. Hofmanski, ICC First Vice-President C. L. K. Carranza, ICC Prosecutor K. K. A. Khan, and ICC judges T. Akane, R. S. Aitala, S. H. U. Godines, B. Schmitt, R. A. S. Alapini-Gansou and H. B. Mahfoud," the statement said. All nine have been placed on an international wanted list.

In December 2025, the Moscow City Court found all nine ICC representatives guilty in absentia of offenses under Part 2 of Article 299 of the Russian Criminal Code (bringing a person known to be innocent to criminal responsibility or unlawfully initiating a criminal case), Part 2 of Article 301 (unlawful detention, arrest or custody), and Part 2 of Article 360 (attacking persons or institutions enjoying international protection, or threatening to do so). They were sentenced to prison terms ranging from three and a half to 15 years.

The Prosecutor General’s Office recalled that, citing the political bias of the International Criminal Court, the Russian president issued an order in November 2016 declaring Russia’s intention not to become a party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Notification of this intention was sent to the UN secretary-general. Russia has never been and is not a party to the ICC Rome Statute and does not recognize its jurisdiction.

"Despite this, ICC Prosecutor Khan unlawfully brought criminal charges against Russian citizens in The Hague. The ICC Presidency, in the absence of legal grounds, instructed the chamber’s judges to issue manifestly unlawful arrest warrants against them. These decisions were made in violation of fundamental principles and norms of international law and without any evidence that the individuals in question had committed the alleged crimes," the Prosecutor General’s Office said.