Philippine posts misrepresent Russian legal action after ICC arrest warrant for senator

"BREAKING: Russia Issues A Warrant of Arrest Against International Criminal Court (ICC) Officials," says part of a Facebook post shared more than 3,900 times after it was published on May 24, 2026.

It claims a Russian court sentenced ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan and eight judges to prison terms of up to 15 years and placed them on Russia's wanted list.

The post says Russia took the action in retaliation for the ICC's 2023 arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin over alleged war crimes in Ukraine. 

Image

Screenshot of the false post captured on June 1, 2026, with a red X added by AFP

Similar claims were also shared elsewhere on Facebook after the Philippine government ordered police to arrest Senator Ronald Dela Rosa, who is wanted by the ICC over his role in ex-president Rodrigo Duterte's deadly drug war which rights groups say killed thousands (archived link). 

Duterte's March 2025 arrest and transfer to a detention centre in The Hague -- where his trial will start on November 30, 2026 -- triggered a domestic wave of criticism of the international court.

Dela Rosa -- a key figure in implementing the crackdown as national police chief under Duterte -- was named a "co-perpetrator" in an ICC arrest warrant over alleged "crimes against humanity of murder".

While Russia has taken legal action against ICC officials, it did so months earlier -- in December 2025.

Sentencing in absentia

A keyword search on Google found Russia's decision to sentence ICC judges and its chief prosecutor to jail terms happened on December 12, 2025.

AFP reported that a Moscow city court found that "ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan unlawfully prosecuted Russian citizens in The Hague" and that the ICC "instructed the judges of the chamber to issue patently unlawful arrest warrants" (archived link).

Khan was sentenced to 15 years in jail in absentia, while eight ICC staff -- including former court president Piotr Hofmanski -- received prison terms ranging from 3.5 to 15 years.

Since invading Ukraine, the country has issued numerous sentences in absentia against dissidents, journalists, opposition figures and foreign officials beyond its reach.

A statement issued by UN Human Rights special rapporteurs on February 24 condemned the Moscow proceedings as "legally null and void under international law", saying they violated basic due process and the functional immunity of international jurists under the Rome Statute (archived here and here). 

Khan has also been sanctioned by the United States over ICC investigations into US and Israeli officials. The United States, Israel and Russia are not among the court's 125 members.

The ICC, which prosecutes individuals for war crimes and crimes against humanity, is suffering arguably the most difficult period of its 23-year history as it faces growing political pressure and reprisals from states implicated in its investigations (archived link). 

"Clearly, since the arrest of Dela Rosa is imminent, this is the next stage -- to discredit the ICC," political scientist Jean Franco told AFP on May 27, while commenting on the spread of misinformation.

She ruled out the possibility of the Philippines taking similar action against the ICC, as Duterte is no longer president and his daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, has "broken ties" with the Marcos administration.

"There is no way that what happened in Russia in December 2025 will happen here, given the current political climate."

AFP has previously debunked other misinformation around attempts to arrest the fugitive senator.