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Microsoft is increasingly coming under fire for blocking the email account of the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Khan. US President Donald Trump sanctioned the court in The Hague in February after a panel of ICC judges issued arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes in the Gaza Strip in November.
The court is virtually paralyzed in its work as a result, writes the AP news agency. One reason for this is that it is heavily dependent on service providers such as Microsoft. They had restricted their work for the court because they feared being targeted by the US authorities.
Microsoft blocked Khan's email account without further ado, reports AP. The 55-year-old Briton was thus forced to switch to the Swiss email provider Proton, ICC employees are said to have described. According to the report, Microsoft did not want to comment on this. Khan's bank accounts in his home country of Great Britain were also blocked. Even employees of a civil society organization that plays a central role in gathering evidence and locating witnesses have withdrawn money from US bank accounts to secure it from confiscation.
The Open-Source Business Alliance (OSBA), also known as the Federal Association for Digital Sovereignty, is now disturbed by the deputy sheriff services of US companies. It considers Microsoft's actions to be “unprecedented in this context and with this impact”. OSBA Chairman Peter Ganten emphasizes: The sanctions against the criminal court ordered by the USA and implemented by the software giant “must be a wake-up call for all those responsible for the secure availability of state and private IT and communication infrastructures”. They emphasized: “We cannot rely on companies that are not under our jurisdiction.”
Trump can “digitally shut down” organizations
According to Ganten, there is therefore an “urgent need for alternatives that we can control and shape”. The advocate of free software therefore believes that the new German government must “now implement this at full speed”. The black-red alliance has stated in its coalition agreement: “Our digital policy is geared towards sovereignty.” This is about “power politics”. What is needed is a “digitally sovereign Germany”. Alongside Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Digital Minister Karsten Wildberger (both CDU) also emphasized this aspect.
The OSBA is urging that words must now be followed by action. The explosive nature of the situation becomes clear when one realizes that Microsoft cannot act differently in this case due to the political and legal situation in the USA. Consequently, the independence of the courts “can only be ensured through digital sovereignty”. In addition, the situation is comparable to many other conceivable cases and must also be considered a warning example: Not only mail accounts, but also cloud services and software service products, for example, could be blocked. The US president could “digitally shut down any organization that depends on US technology” by decree.
Khan has just decided to temporarily suspend his office. The background to this are ongoing UN investigations into alleged sexual assaults, which the Briton himself initiated. Last year, two court employees reported that the chief prosecutor had tried to force one of his assistants into a sexual relationship. Corresponding reports made the rounds just a few weeks before Khan announced that he would apply for arrest warrants against the top Israeli politicians. The man concerned has vehemently denied the allegations.
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