РУССКИЙ
12:02 20.02.2026 •
French ICC Judge Nicolas Guillou
Photo: Euronews
French ICC Judge Nicolas Guillou is living a nightmare after the US sanctioned him and other judges for issuing an arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, once again exposing the risk of Europeans' reliance on American services, Euronews reports.
On 20 August 2025, International Criminal Court Justice Nicolas Guillou went from a respected judge to a pariah for American companies.
That day, US President Donald Trump put him under US sanctions for authorising the issuance of an arrest warrant against Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and its Minister of Defence, Yoav Gallant, over their role in the destruction of the Gaza Strip.
Since then, Guillou’s life has become a nightmare – and his experience illustrates just how dependent Europeans are on US services as transatlantic tensions rise.
Gillou and his family are banned from US territory, but the sanctions have hit him hard at home. He cannot use most credit cards, as Visa and Mastercard dominate the market; most digital services are off-limits, and even online orders can be blocked if an American intermediary – like the delivery service UPS – is involved.
“What is at the heart of the sanctions is the prohibition on any US individual or legal entity from providing services to, or receiving services from, a sanctioned person,” Guillou told journalists.
Some banks practice “over-compliance,” automatically rejecting payments from sanctioned individuals.
“This has happened to some of my colleagues, whose transfers or purchases were refused because the bank on the other side of the transaction declined the transfer from a sanctioned person,” he said.
“The most problematic situation is when it affects services for which there is actually no European alternative.”
Guillou recounted how he booked a hotel in France through the US travel company Expedia, only for the reservation to be cancelled hours later because he was under sanctions.
Currently, 11 judges at the International Criminal Court are in the same situation.
Trump is shielding from the ICC his Israeli friends who committed genocide against Palestinians. Now Trump looks like supporting this genocide against Palestinians while planning to build paradise in Gaza?
read more in our Telegram-channel https://t.me/The_International_Affairs
