US sanctions equate us with drug traffickers, ICC deputy prosecutor says

The deputy prosecutor of the International Criminal Court on Friday lashed out at US sanctions, arguing they effectively put top court officials on a par with "terrorists and drug traffickers".

In a wide-ranging interview with AFP, Mame Mandiaye Niang also said it would be "conceivable" to hold an in-absentia hearing against high-level ICC targets such as Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Sixty-five-year-old Niang, along with top ICC judges, is subject to sanctions from the administration of US President Donald Trump, in retaliation at the court's arrest warrants for Netanyahu over Israel's war on Gaza.

"You can disagree with what we're doing. That happens all the time," Niang told AFP in a one-to-one interview on the sixth floor of the ICC's building in The Hague.

"But even if we upset you, you should never put us on the same list as terrorists or drug traffickers. That is the message" to Trump.