Over 100 lawyers ask ICC to investigate Macron and French ministers for Gaza genocide complicity
Legal complaint accuses President Emmanuel Macron, three key ministers and scores of MPs of facilitating Israeli crimes against Palestinians
French lawyers have submitted a request to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) for an investigation into the role of French officials “in the commission of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide” by Israeli forces against Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.
In a 56-page communication made public by the French investigative media outlet Blast on Monday, the 114 lawyers named President Emmanuel Macron, Prime Minister Francois Bayrou, Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, Minister of the Armed Forces Sebastien Lecornu and 19 lawmakers of the National Assembly’s European Affairs Committee.
A communication to the ICC is the equivalent of a criminal complaint to the court on an alleged crime falling under its jurisdiction.
It is addressed to the Office of the ICC Prosecutor in accordance with Article 15 of the Rome Statute, which states that the prosecutor may open proprio motu investigations (i.e. on their own initiative) based on information relating to crimes within the court’s jurisdiction.
The lawyers, representing an NGO called Pour la Justice au Proche-Orient (“for justice in the Middle East”) note that: “Far from taking concrete measures to prevent the ongoing genocide against the Palestinians, the members of the French executive cited in this communication have continued to support the criminal actions of the government of Israel by providing military, political, economic, diplomatic and propaganda support to that state, including by providing the means to commit the crimes in question.”
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