Nobel peace laureate Pillay calls ICC sanctions 'unacceptable'

The winner of this year's Nobel Peace Prize Navi Pillay, a South African judge and former UN rights chief, called the US sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) "unheard of, unacceptable" on Saturday. "There is so much tension and anxiety over the continued existence of international courts, mainly the International Criminal Court in The Hague... most importantly, sanctions have been announced by one country against the judges, just for the judicial orders they issue. This is unheard of, unacceptable," Pillay said via video link from Nuremberg during an event at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo. This comes after Trump called Pillay a “mystery person” and lamented the Nobel committee’s decision not to award him the prize, calling it “disgraceful and embarrassing”. The 2026 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, South African lawyer and champion of international law Navi Pillay (C) at Nuremberg's Palace of Justice in Germany on 9 October 2026 (Frank Boxler/AFP)