ICC judge quits: Christoph Flugge cites ‘shocking’ political interference from White House and Turkey
- Christoph Flugge claimed the US had threatened judges after moves were made to examine the conduct of US soldiers in Afghanistan
- Turkey’s government had also made ‘baseless’ allegations to end the tenure of a Turkish judge sitting on a UN court
A senior judge has resigned from one of the UN’s international criminal courts in The Hague citing “shocking” political interference from the White House and Turkey.
Christoph Flugge, a German judge, claimed the US had threatened judges after moves were made to examine the conduct of US soldiers in Afghanistan.
Turkey’s government had earlier made “baseless” allegations to end the tenure of a Turkish judge sitting on a United Nations court known as the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals with the connivance of the UN, he claimed.
Aydın Sefa Akay was removed following his arrest and subsequent release over alleged links to Fethullah Gulen, the US-based cleric blamed by the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for a failed coup attempt.
“Turkey applied its veto against Judge Akay,” Flugge said.
