Sanctioned by the United States, French judge Nicolas Guillou is excluded from banking and digital life. A situation which, according to the magistrate of the International Criminal Court, reveals Europe’s dependence on American giants and which constitutes a direct threat to the rule of law.
Seven months ago, Washington placed Nicolas Guillou and ten other ICC magistrates under sanctions for daring to issue an arrest warrant against Benjamin Netanyahu.
Emmanuel Macron recently wrote a letter to Donald Trump to request the lifting of these sanctions.
“An attack on international justice”
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Nicolas Guillou became aware of this request without having been informed. He explains in the show Tout un monde that in his eyes, these sanctions go far beyond his personal case: they target something more fundamental.
“The sanctions suffered by the magistrates of the International Criminal Court are an attack against individuals, but also an attack against international justice and perhaps in general the rule of law,” he denounces.
For him, these sanctions reflect a desire to call into question all the instruments put in place for several decades to ensure a form of equality before the law and justice for the most serious crimes on the planet.
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Sanctions structured in three levels
The American measures come in three parts. Magistrates are prohibited from entering American territory, as are their spouses and children. An eviction order hits those who live there. All their assets in the United States are frozen.
Finally, businesses and individuals are prohibited from providing services to sanctioned individuals. This third facet applies to all subsidiaries of American companies around the world, including in Europe. And in practice, the impact is extremely strong in two areas: banking and digital.
Returned to the 1990s
“The biggest difficulty in banking lies in the means of payment,” indicates Nicolas Guillou. “I realized that we no longer have any sovereignty in Europe over means of payment, since we depend almost exclusively on American payment cards Visa, Mastercard and American Express. Even if your bank does not close your account, you no longer have any means of payment,” he emphasizes.
Same observation for online services: “When we are under sanctions, most subscriptions or accounts with American companies are closed. This is the case, for example, of Airbnb, Paypal, Booking, etc.”
In other cases, access to the account is maintained, but any transaction is impossible: “This happened to me with Expedia, with whom I reserved a hotel room in France. Twelve hours later, I received an email indicating that my reservation had been canceled,” says the judge, for whom this is akin to a return to the 90s.
>> Also read: American justice: a former federal judge sounds the alarm
A European autonomy to build
The judge believes that this exclusion shows the great fragility of Europe in the face of American tech giants: “Our personality and our digital archives do not belong to us. They belong to giants located on another continent, who can exclude you from digital technology at the request of a foreign country”, analyzes Nicolas Guillou.
It also points to a risk of self-censorship among representatives of political or judicial authorities. Elected officials or magistrates could refrain from making certain decisions for fear of reprisals.
This is not his case: “I will continue my work, that is the most important thing. I am a judge in an international criminal jurisdiction. I took the oath and I will continue to work as I have done since the start of my mandate.”
The fact remains that, according to Nicolas Guillou, the rule of law is threatened. The judge believes that this must be guaranteed by making Europe more autonomous. This movement already exists, particularly among the younger generation, he observes: “There is an enormous momentum towards European sovereignty. Many understand that we cannot remain in this state of dependence”, affirms the ICC magistrate.
Sujet radio: Aleksandra Planinic
Adaptation web: Antoine Michel
