Julian Assange’s lawyers began their final U.K. legal challenge Tuesday to stop the WikiLeaks founder from being sent to the United States to face spying charges, arguing that his actions had exposed serious criminal acts by U.S. authorities and that he could face a “flagrant denial of justice” if he is extradited.
A Russian soldier who pleaded guilty to killing a Ukrainian civilian was sentenced to life in prison on Monday in the first war crimes trial since Moscow invaded three months ago, unleashing a brutal conflict that has led to accusations of atrocities, left thousands dead, driven millions from their homes and flattened whole swaths of cities.
British lawyer Karim Khan was sworn in Wednesday as the new chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court, pledging to reach out to nations that are not members of the court in his quest to end impunity for atrocities and to try to hold trials in countries where crimes are committed.
America’s long-running reluctant relationship with the International Criminal Court came to a crashing halt as decades of U.S. suspicions about the tribunal and its global jurisdiction spilled into open hostility, amid threats of sanctions if it investigates U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
The chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, said Friday she is seeking an investigation of alleged war crimes committed in the war in Afghanistan, an unprecedented probe that could involve U.S. troops.