00:00Well, we see an increasing proclivity on the part of powerful states to use coercive measures.
00:08I've mentioned that there was an arrest warrant against me and some other judges by the Russian Federation,
00:14and I've been now sentenced to imprisonment in my absence to 15 years by the Russian Federation
00:20on account of applications for warrants that were issued by independent judges on the evidence.
00:27In this round, you're right, of course, my predecessor for some months was under sanctions.
00:32But in this round, I was the first person sanctioned by President Trump in February 2025.
00:40And of course, it was quite lonely for several months.
00:44I was the only one. And later on, some judges and deputies, I think in about August, September, they were
00:49sanctioned.
00:50I just think it's unwarranted. People try to enter public service.
00:56Some do better than others. But to use the power of the state to coerce, to intimidate, is deeply dangerous.
01:08We see this tendency to what's happening in some countries domestically with prosecutors or attorney generals of previous administrations.
01:15We see threats against UN special rapporteurs like Francesca Albanese or judges of the ICC or myself.
01:23We see threats in the media about putting sanctions and targeted measures against other individuals who simply take a different
01:33view.
01:33And they don't, in the most case, at least in my case and in the ICC, I'm sure, take a
01:38different view out of malice, out of bias or out of any antipathy to any people or person in the
01:46world.
01:46It's simply an exercise of responsibilities, given that one has to look at the evidence and the law and apply
01:52the law fairly equally, as equally, for example, in Palestine and Israel, as we did in Ukraine and Russia, as
02:01equally as we're doing in Afghanistan and Myanmar.
02:05And the list goes on. And to cause pain is not an unanticipated consequence, it's the desired outcome.
02:14Because you've seen from public sources, even before the current administration in the United States took office,
02:2212 senators wrote, and they said that you target Israel, we will target you and your family.
02:28You have been warned. That's almost a verbatim quotation.
02:33And so one can say on this area, at least, they are truthful and they've made good on their promises
02:38because the court as a whole has been targeted.
02:41But I deprecate it. It's undermining the moral authority of states.
02:46It is dividing the international community. In the end, it's bringing us closer to more and more conflict, because if
02:53we don't have the law, what do we have?
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