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Nicolas Guillou, French ICC judge sanctioned by the US and “debanked”
- crest 10mo agoTime to protect EU citizens from US human rights abuses. Require EU banks to ignore foreign sanctions and call the US bluff.
- jeltz 10mo agoYeah, the EU should just call the bluff. The US is not going to do anything other than shake their fist angrily.
- GordonS 10mo agoThe problem there is that the EU has started copying the USA, and has just recently sanctioned multiple journalists for telling stories that don't align with their narrative on Russia/Ukraine.
- watwut 10mo agoRussia invaded Ukraine in its quest to enlarge the imperium. Russia is an aggressor seeking to expand even more.
- GordonS 10mo agoRegardless, should we really sanction our own citizens simply for reporting, in good faith, something that goes against the state-sponsored narrative (true or otherwise)? This is legit the kind of stuff we used to use as examples as why "Russia is bad".
- watwut 10mo agoThere is no equivalency bettween what Russia actually does here these days ... or between what was going on in Russia as Putin cemented his power, ressurected Stalins mythology about Stalin as a great leader and how communist Russia operated. These false equivalencies amd attempts to hint that Ukraine war is anything else then a territorial expansion are not just "regardless". They are the core issue.
- GordonS 10mo agoYou've side-stepped my question entirely - should we really be sanctioning journalists? Is that really a sign of healthy democracy and free speech?
- watwut 10mo agoFor me, the really i.portsnt point is to not imply whatever conspira y theory about Ukraine deserving it could be implied. And likewise, the importsnt part for me was to negate the false equivalency. I am ok with sanctioning Russia as such, as much as possible. Sadly they have powerful allies in US now ... but for now, Russia and US are the greatest threats to freedom in Europe.
- GordonS 10mo agoWe're not discussing conspiracy theories, or sanctioning of Russia for that matter - this is about EU journalists being sanctioned for reporting in good faith.
- shard972 10mo ago[dead]
- emilfihlman 10mo agoTime to protect citizens from EU human right and political abuses, too.
- mkleczek 10mo agohttps://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46432107 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46432107 I wonder if (when?) elites are going to use and support Bitcoin. Oppressive governments will force citizens - even such powerful as judges - to search for escapes.
- tgv 10mo agoFirst, a French judge has no power in the US. Second, Bitcoin is utter shit: it is not sustainable and mainly used to prop up criminals. Third, if money can be hidden and taxation becomes very difficult or impossible, society will collapse, and the "elite" loses its position. Bitcoin is not an alternative.
- integralid 10mo agoCash is more anonymous and less trackable than Bitcoin and the society didn't collapse.
- krior 10mo agoThen why should we use bitcoin?
- lmz 10mo agoCash is a bit bulky and can't be sent over fiber.
- rounce 10mo agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawala https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawala
- mothballed 10mo agoHawala is such a simple, effective, and relatively anonymous system that bypasses banking that the government had to convince the populace that anyone who uses it is a terrorist. It also helps they use the arab name even though it is of Indian origin.
- hiq 10mo agohttps://archive.is/DFHM6 https://archive.is/DFHM6
- praptak 10mo ago"What is the purpose of the American sanctions mechanism? Initially, it was created to address human rights violations[...]" Yet here we are: it's being used to harass judges who address human rights violations.
- crazybonkersai 10mo agoCorrection: it was created to advance own geopolitical goals and harrass unfriendly regimes using human rights abuse as an excuse. So in that sense nothing has fundamentally changed.
- raverbashing 10mo ago"Always has been" ;)
- epistasis 10mo agoWhich geopolitical goals was it created for? Certainly not the ones it's being used for right now. This sort of fallacy, of widening a category such that the initial meaning is lost, and then advancing an argument on that false category, is something I'm seeing a lot more these days in political topics. But I'm not sure I have a name for the fallacy. It's like people that argue that the US civil wars was "actually" about states' rights and economic differences rather than slavery. It wasn't a war about the concepts of states rights in general, it was about the right of states to do one thing: legalize slavery. It wasn't about the idea of economic differences in general, it was about one specific economic difference: chattel slavery and whether those slaves get paid and have economic freedom.
- JumpCrisscross 10mo ago> Which geopolitical goals was it created for? American interests. (America, like China and Russia, is not subject to the ICC.)
- deleted 10mo ago[deleted]
- pcthrowaway 10mo agoThe U.S. has also sanctioned Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories
- flyinglizard 10mo ago[flagged]
- smcl 10mo agoYou're gonna look back on comments like this in about five years and realise that you're an idiot
- netsharc 10mo agoMan, I need your optimism in 2026...
- deleted 10mo ago[deleted]
- raverbashing 10mo agoI doubt it. In fact I bet it will be quite the contrary
- mrexcess 10mo ago>Francesca Albanese is conducting warfare HN moderation will protect outlandish hyperbolic comments like this, won't it? If it needed to be said, Francesca Albanese is not conducting warfare. She's doing her job as a UN Special Reporter on Israel's occupation of Palestine. You are shooting the messenger.
- deleted 10mo ago[deleted]
- shykes 10mo agoI vouched for your comment because I don't believe it breaks any rules. If others disagree with you, they should reply. If they believe it's low quality, they should downvote. Flagging should be reserved for posts that actually break the rules.
- bawolff 10mo agoThe more wild US gets with its sanction powers the more it draws other countries to move usa away from the center of the financial system. Nobody cares when usa was sanctioning random Iranians or Russians comitting human rights abuses, but the ICC is relatively popular in europe and the optics of this makes america look like gangsters. Obviously nothing is going to happen in the short term, but i wonder how it will errode american soft power in the long term if they keep this sort of thing up.
- BLKNSLVR 10mo agoThe US has any soft power left? I think Trump has successfully destroyed all of that and replaced it with (rhetoric about) threats of hard power. The Trump administration is the equivalent of a lazy/absent parent. The kids have no respect for them whatsoever, but they're sick with them for time being and aware that belt hurts when it's deployed.
- jeltz 10mo agoIt still has quite a bit. It took decades to build it up, and Trump has not yet managed to destroy all of it in one year, but maybe four years ...
- mdhb 10mo agoNo I think it’s properly ruined at this point. There is no possible way any of their formal allies will ever be able to trust them again without a LOT of people going to jail and such fundamental changes to how power works in the country that I don’t think they are even remotely capable of pulling off.
- xvector 10mo agoI am deeply skeptical of this statement. Soft power is great but actual power comes from the ability to project your military and economy. As such, the US's soft power will remain until the EU is willing to compromise on its welfare state to build an actual functioning defense industry and an economy that prioritizes innovation over taxes/regulation. But I am skeptical the EU/UK will ever reach such a compromise (see: mass riots in France over raising the retirement age, despite it being objectively and clearly necessary; the UK's reluctance to release the triple lock pension despite it impoverishing the country, etc.)
- beloch 10mo ago"Without commenting on ongoing cases, he called on European authorities to activate a mechanism that could limit the impact of US restrictions." ------------------- ICC member states should take steps to ensure the sanctioned judges and prosecutors do not suffer as a result of U.S. sanctions. The goal should be to ensure that they feel no repercussions that might bias them one way or the other in future cases and thus maintain impartiality. If this is not done, it could create an apparent feedback loop, if only in the public's imagination. i.e. After some future ICC ruling goes against them (or Israel/Russia), the U.S. may claim that ICC judges and prosecutors are prejudiced against them and are seeking revenge. Protecting ICC personnel now could blunt such claims. Sadly, I fear that the U.S. may have need of defence from ICC rulings relatively soon.
- bawolff 10mo ago> Sadly, I fear that the U.S. may have need of such a defence relatively soon. When it really comes down to it, usa is a super power. Might makes right in international politics. The ICC has had quite a lot of successes when it comes to small and even medium sized countries, but at some point pragmatism has to win out. Nobody is going to war with the USA on behalf of the ICC. I highly doubt the ICC is going to push any issue with america unless the evidence against them is extreme. Its simply not powerful enough.
- giva 10mo agoMeet the "Hague Invasion Act": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Service-Members%27_Protection_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Service-Members%27_Pr...
- mytailorisrich 10mo agoConsidering the relations between the US and the Netherlands it is inconceivable that the Dutch government would allow US military personel to be detained that way on its soil, and if that did happen I think a call from the White House would "clear any misunderstandings"...
- throwaway198846 10mo agoNitpick: > Both men are indicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity for their roles in the destruction of the Gaza Strip. Role in destruction isn't a war crime they are being indicted for and as such irrelevant in this context.
- tovej 10mo agoThe destruction of Gaza is obviously the context in which the war crimes and crimes against humanity occur(red).
- throwaway198846 10mo agoNo, you missed the point. They have been indicated to "as co-perpetrators for committing the acts jointly with others: the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts". Physical destruction can occur without being a war crime and those war crimes can occur without any destruction. So it didn't add any useful information infact it was actively misleading because some people might think they were indicated for destruction.
- jeltz 10mo agoYour nitpick added zero value to the discussion.
- tovej 10mo agoI have a hard time understanding what you're upset about. "The destruction of Gaza" is clearly a context that anyone in the world can recognize. The statement is simply referring to that. Not everything has to be maximally technical.
- throwaway198846 10mo agoBecause someone is wrong on the internet, isn't that enough? I already explained it and I'm unsure what I can add aside from some examples (Siege of Jerusalem (starvation without destruction), Battle of Raqqa (destructive urban warfare, no allegations of starvation or war crimes), Siege of Mariupol (destructive urban warfare, many alleged war crimes))
- fleahunter 10mo agoUsing a human-rights sanctions framework against judges of a court literally created to prosecute human-rights violations is the snake eating its own tail. Sanctions used to be targeted at people trying to blow up the rule of law, now they are being used at people trying to apply it in ways that are politically inconvenient to a superpower and its allies. This is why so many non-Western states call "rules-based order" a branding exercise: the same legal tool that hits warlords and cartel bosses is repurposed, with no structural checks, against judges whose decisions you dislike. And once you normalize that, you've handed every other great power a precedent: "our courts, our sanctions list, our enemies." The short-term message is "don't touch our friends"; the long-term message is "international law is just foreign policy with better stationery."
- ExoticPearTree 10mo agoUnpopular opinion, but the US and a handful of other countries do not recognize the ICC and in their eyes it does not exist; hence the US has no obligation to support them in any way. The ICC was warned before picking on Israel, but it did not listen. Now they’re paying the consequences.
- youngtaff 10mo agoThe ICC didn’t ‘pick on Israel’… While the events on Oct 7th were horrific and undoubtedly deserved eliminating Hamas, Israel has collectively punished the civilian population of Gaza in the extreme (as they have been doing for years)
- _aavaa_ 10mo agoLet’s grant the worse case scenario argument against Israel’s actions. Their point still stands: neither Israel nor the USA recognize the authority of the ICC; they have not signed on to the treaty to be governed by it, and hence the ICC does not have the authority to look into either of ther actions.
- rcMgD2BwE72F 10mo agoThey prefer war to justice. Got it.
- saubeidl 10mo agoThe crimes took place in Palestine, which recognizes the ICC.
- eschaton 10mo agoCrimes against humanity are subject to universal jurisdiction. A state need not be a member of the ICC to be subject to its (or any other entity’s) jurisdiction in investigating, prosecuting, and adjudicating such crimes.
- throwaway3060 10mo ago
- arresin 10mo ago[flagged]
- fleroviumna 10mo ago[dead]
- Lysander1 10mo agoWhat's good for the goose is good for the gander. The US is acting to impose sanctions on individuals with no direct ties to it by using its legal authority over American entities. The reason the US wants to do this is because the ICC is seeking to impose its legal authority over individuals whose state has not joined the ICC with novel legal theories and using its legal authority over ICC states. If the ICC had remained in areas where its legal authority is clear and not disputed, its judges and prosecutors wouldn't be facing this issue.
- piva00 10mo agoSo explain why the US used the same mechanisms against a Brazilian judge responsible for Bolsonaro's coup attempt case. Was Brazil's justice trying to impose its legal authority outside of its jurisdictions? Nope. Was it hurting humans rights? Nope. It's simply to bully, and meddle with entities that go against the interests of the current administration. I don't buy your justification why this case is not the same, at all.
- Lysander1 10mo agoI'm talking about the ICC. I'm not trying to explain that.
- piva00 10mo agoI won't ignore the administration track record of using sanctions to further their own agenda though, not sure why you can do that to explain the ICC case when it's factual they use it against some people that don't toe their line, as a meddling weapon to strong-arm them.
- Kim_Bruning 10mo agoCan you be more specific? Which individuals and why (not)? Note that eg if you're from (picking two random countries) Nepal and commit a crime in Italy, then Italy still has jurisdiction. Italian police can arrest you. [1] Also, there's certain crimes that any country is allowed to arrest you for, for instance piracy on the high seas. [1] Also explicitly taken into account in the Rome statue 12(2)(a) https://legal.un.org/icc/statute/99_corr/cstatute.htm https://legal.un.org/icc/statute/99_corr/cstatute.htm
- soldthat 10mo agoThere’s a fundamental flaw in the concept of “international justice”. On a nation level the power of a court to prosecute individuals is supported by a policing force that is capable of resorting to violence on a local level that is acceptable for the greater peace. On an international level, enforcing justice would ultimately require going to war, with mass casualties and likely numerous incidents of potential breaches of the law itself. In the example of Israel vs Hamas, the ICC warrant included the leaders of Hamas - but the ICC had zero chance of actually arresting them, they were killed by Israel though. So half of the defendants carried out the justice sought by the ICC on the other half.
- saubeidl 10mo agoThis only applies if the individuals are a) protected by their country of residence and b) never leave it. Neither of those are certain and even for people that a) applies to, b) can be a big hassle. Just ask Netanyahu.
- soldthat 10mo agoIf the country itself has a justice system that can prosecute the individual, the ICC has no jurisdiction. In the case of Israel the ICC used a loophole to work around this, since the Israeli courts are actually able to prosecute Netanyahu (and are currently doing so on other matters).
- BLKNSLVR 10mo agoI am intrigued by the fact the US acts despite no US citizen having an arrest warrant put out for them. Israel can't do sanctions for Israelis? I mean, the realpolitik of these sanctions by the US is in hope that the USs involvement in Gaza doesn't get arrest warrants for their own officials / Presidents. Or for war crimes and human rights violations against Venezuelan boats. Does make Israel look either weak or like a small person puppeteering a much bigger person though. Additionally, tangentially, I find it interesting the reluctance the US has had, for three entirety of Trump's term so far, in extending sanctions on Russia for it's continued bombardment of Ukraine. Speaks volumes about the (confusing, although maybe just rapid direction/ally change) motivations of the current administration.
- flyinglizard 10mo agoIn international institutions Israel is weak. It's vastly outnumbered by Muslim countries, which is why traditionally Israel has received more criticism in the UN compared to any other country.
- smcl 10mo agoIt's receiving criticism in the UN because of the horrible crimes it's committing
- _DeadFred_ 10mo agoWhen Israel was starving Gaza it was allowing in 3 times as much calories per person as the United Nations is supplying 400,000 Sudan refugees per person. Is the UN commiting crimes? The UN said is had food to increase what Israel was letting in, so the UN said it had resources to provide more than 3 times what it is providing Sudan refugees to 5 times the population (2 million verses 400,000).
- aprilthird2021 10mo agoIsrael controls all in and outflows into Gaza. The UN does not control those in Sudan. You know this and present the situation misleadingly
- miroljub 10mo ago[flagged]
- jeltz 10mo agoThe only lesson they will learn is that they need to control sanctions themselves and likely to use them more. Nothing good about this unless you want to see a weaker US and lilely a more federal EU.
- lejalv 10mo agoDo you have a source?
- miroljub 10mo agoSee answer to the sibling comment.
- mariusor 10mo agoGenerally when you say these kinds of things, it's polite to not let your audience guess at what and who you mean. Could you please give us some links?
- miroljub 10mo agoThe latest example from a week ago. The article is pro sanctions (as all EU mainstream media). The problem is these people were sanctioned, their lives ruined, without any legal process of conviction. If the same happens to someone closer to the EU establishment, like ICC judge, EU, then they cry foul. https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2025/12/18/who-are-the-westerners-sanctioned-by-the-eu-for-spreading-russian-propaganda https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2025/12/18/who-are-the-we...
- mariusor 10mo agoI'm smelling a troll here if you can't distinguish between a UN official acting in an official capacity being sanctioned, vs. private individuals who proselytize and engage in propaganda for a populist regime which, albeit unofficially, is "The Enemy" for the whole of Europe at the moment. Also the decisions are not outside any legal process. To quote the agenda for the decision[1]: > On 18 July 2025, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (‘the High Representative’) published a statement on behalf of the Union, in which she strongly condemned the persistent malicious activities posed by Russia, which form part of broader, coordinated and long-standing hybrid campaigns aimed at threatening and undermining the security, resilience and democratic foundations of the Union, its Member States and its partners. The High Representative stressed that Russia’s malicious activities had escalated further since the beginning of the war of aggression against Ukraine and were highly likely to persist in the foreseeable future. [1] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=OJ:L_202502568 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=OJ:L...
- submeta 10mo agoThe US is now literally sanctioning UN experts and ICC people if they push too hard on accountability for alleged Israeli war crimes, e.g. Francesca Albanese over her Gaza reports and support for ICC cases. In Germany (and elsewhere) it often doesn’t need formal sanctions: people get disinvited, smeared, or quietly pushed out of jobs if they’re too vocal on Palestine – think Ai Weiwei, Greta Thunberg, Masha Gessen, Ilan Pappé, Ghassan Hage and others running into cancellations, funding cuts, and public delegitimisation instead of explicit legal punishment.
- hiddencost 10mo ago[flagged]
- deleted 10mo ago[deleted]
- submeta 10mo agoWow, unbelievable, downvote everything that states the obvious. This platform practically silences any criticism of Israel. Just like any other platform.
- fguerraz 10mo agoThe ICC was never meant to be used against the West.
- tensor 10mo ago[flagged]
- password54321 10mo ago[flagged]
- rchaud 10mo agoWhat's the process for initiation into the "west" these days? Colonizing someone else's territory and sweeping it under the rug as brazenly as possible? It certainly isn't freedom of expression or respect for the rule of law.
- aprilthird2021 10mo agoHow is Israel "the West"? If its just because of alliances then Saudi Arabia is also "the West"
- MPSFounder 10mo ago[dead]
- dang 10mo agoWe've banned this account for using HN exclusively for political/ideological/nationalistic battle, as well as for repeatedly breaking the site guidelines and ignoring our request to stop. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- djohnston 10mo agoFWIW it's kind of refreshing to see a judicial official on the receiving end of this treatment. I know he's not one of the judges who permitted the debanking of protesters in Canada, but 1:1 of like-kind is probably all we can ask for. Those who so flippantly censor and ostracise dissidents deserve a periodic taste of their own concoctions.
- dmantis 10mo agoThere should be no way the government can 'debank' someone in the first place. Monetary relations with other people have always been untouched by the state until very recently, even for revolutionaries. A private transaction is not anyone's business apart from the counterparties. Assuming that someone should not be allowed to freely earn, spend, invest and participate in the economy without a proved felony is a dystopian concept. Either have a proper fair public trial and put criminals in prison for serious violations or don't discriminate against anyone's stuff at all if you don't have any proofs. Otherwise it's massively used to give advantages to citizens of several nations to do business and earn while discriminating against others because of 'high risks' without any public court hearing, based on nationality, citizenship or organizational relations.
- hopelite 10mo agoUnfortunately this seems to be exactly the slope the West is going down after dismissing all the crazy talk of conspiracy theorists who warned of this very thing. I haven’t seen anything about it here, but another example that is worse because it’s an attack on a private person, is the EU recently sanctioning the former Swiss intelligence officer Jacques Baud, living in Belgium which he now cannot leave, for seemingly, essentially reminding the people of Europe and EU politicians’ of the things they said.
- deleted 10mo ago[deleted]
- Zigurd 10mo agoSo many commenters here assume US global hegemony that, in reality, expired after the 1980s. Without its allies in Europe and Asia, the US can't act effectively.
- vorpalhex 10mo agoIt seems odd to me that the US supposedly isn't a major power, yet still finances both NATO and the UN primarily and if it lowers it's support it's "leading the destruction of those things". Likewise if it backs off it's foreign support, hundreds of millions will die. Are we singularly carrying the worlds on our backs - which sounds hegemonic - are is the US free to stop spending our money on everyone elses problems? Perhaps the UK or Germany can fund everything for a few decades and be the next major world power for a bit.
- kuerbel 10mo agoThe premise is off. These aren’t "everyone else’s problems", NATO, the UN, trade stability, and foreign aid exist because they serve US interests too: security, markets, alliances, and predictability. The US isn’t benevolently carrying the world; it’s investing in systems that reduce the cost of conflict and instability later. The question isn’t whether the US is allowed to stop spending, but what it wants the world to look like if it does. It's just the case that some people at the top don't seem to understand that.
- flowerthoughts 10mo agoTrump is fixing the UN glitch: https://www.cfr.org/article/funding-united-nations-what-impact-do-us-contributions-have-un-agencies-and-programs https://www.cfr.org/article/funding-united-nations-what-impa... Whether NATO still exists as a defense organisation is a good question.
- convolvatron 10mo agodespite how common this opinion is, it fails to recognize that the US itself wanted to structure things that way. this was a politically viable way to continue to funnel huge amounts of money into weapons development and research. its not unlikely that European dependence on the US was a bonus. were the host countries in Europe pushing for US base deployments or was it really the US and its insane desire to land explosives anywhere in the world in 30 minutes or less and sustain two simulateous land conflicts. none of this is that simple. were the Europeans happy to take the security and invest more in their civil societies? absolutely, but they eroded their own sovereignty by doing so and the US was more than happy to act like the big brother in control of the whole situation. the US wanted worldwide military dominance and the dependence of its allies. it really quite weird to say its all their fault.
- deaux 10mo agoFantastic news. The more of this, the sooner Europe wakes up and starts accelerating sovereignty. Please keep it coming!
- realusername 10mo agoIndeed, I think those sanctions did better than 10 years of talks for the digital euro
- password54321 10mo agoSovereignty? Sounds like doing Israel's bidding is the opposite of sovereignty. Last I checked I never voted for Netanyahu.
- MPSFounder 10mo agoYet America and Europe's foreign policies are largely dictated by rich people like the Adelsons who are attached to a foreign land. By accepting that policy and the mere existence of AIPAC, we have effectively voted for it
- rchaud 10mo agoA 27-country bloc will struggle to accelerate on anything when one veto is all it takes to hit the brakes. Only 12 nations needed to agree when when the EU voted to institute a common currency in 1992.
- deaux 10mo agoA French university doesn't need to consult Hungary when reducing their dependency on US tech. Finland doesn't need to consult Czechia when deciding to invest more into domestic defense industry. And so on. The huge majority of dependencies can be eliminated without needing such consensus. It's a gradual process anyway. China didn't wane themselves off the US overnight. They still haven't entirely. See NVIDIA/ASML. Step by step, bit by bit.
- MPSFounder 10mo ago
- josefritzishere 10mo agoThis tactic broadcasts Trump's guilt, and the guilt of others by association. It's hard to imagine how this will play out. It's very worrisome that the USA is collapsing into a fascist state. I feel bad for young people who inherit the consequences of these terrible decisions.
- eduction 10mo agoThe problem is many people — not here on HN but in general — were happy or at least unperturbed when this happened to right wing figures like Donald Trump, the trucker protestors in Canada and the 1/6 capitol riot people in the US. It was incredibly obvious this would be inflicted in the other direction to anyone who followed what happened to Wikileaks supporters or people around Ed Snowden. To everyone saying this is about US hegemony, note not only Canada but also UK (see Nigel Farage) has inflicted this on their own citizens - so they certainly helped lay the groundwork for what amount to extremely petty sanctions (and they too have participated in sanctions efforts).
- pcthrowaway 10mo ago> were happy or at least unperturbed when this happened to right wing figures like Donald Trump When was Trump debanked? > the trucker protestors in Canada Speaking as someone on the other end of the spectrum from the trucker protestors in Canada, I was mortified by this
- eduction 10mo agohttps://www.cnbc.com/2025/08/05/trump-jpmorgan-chase-bank-of-america-rejected-bank-customer.html https://www.cnbc.com/2025/08/05/trump-jpmorgan-chase-bank-of... It’s very easy to google this. Btw they never denied but per usual said they could not comment on individual accounts. But he did at least sue capital one. https://apnews.com/article/trump-bank-lawsuit-florida-28c05cfbf837b258b2018bfa3f02c0c4 https://apnews.com/article/trump-bank-lawsuit-florida-28c05c...
- __float 10mo agoTrump was never debanked. To my recollection, no protesters in the trucker convoys were either. Some social media accounts were suspended and fundraisers were stopped.
- xvector 10mo agoTrucker convoys were absolutely de-banked. Your media consumption may be particularly biased if you didn't hear of this! I recommend following outlets from "both sides" even if you find the "other side" offensive. I hate to shill for Ground News, but it's great for this.
- fortran77 10mo ago[flagged]
- ilamont 10mo agoThe US did this to a slate of Hong Kong administrators in 2020 for implementing China's repressive national security law. It didn't seem to act as a deterrent, as the US did it again to a different group of officials earlier this year. https://hongkongfp.com/2025/04/01/us-sanctions-6-officials-inc-justice-minister-and-police-chief-as-hong-kong-condemns-despicable-behaviour/ https://hongkongfp.com/2025/04/01/us-sanctions-6-officials-i... One of the sanctioned officials reportedly keeps "piles of cash" at her house. https://news.bitcoin.com/unbanked-hong-kong-leader-carrie-lam-i-have-piles-of-cash-at-home/ https://news.bitcoin.com/unbanked-hong-kong-leader-carrie-la...
- ChrisArchitect 10mo agoNews from 2 months ago; Discussion then: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45706056 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45706056
- ChrisArchitect 10mo agoRelated: 'It's surreal': How US sanctions lock ICC judges out of daily life https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46293048 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46293048
- coldtea 10mo agoOn surely unrelated news: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46403276 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46403276
- mark_l_watson 10mo agoexactly right
- emilfihlman 10mo agoI think the important thing here is that governments shouldn't have the right to make life hard for ordinary people with punishments like taking away access to banks and finance system etc. As for the US slapping European politicians etc, it's high time the people on high horses in Europe feel the shit they push on ordinary people.
- rchaud 10mo ago> "On top of that, all payment systems are American: American Express, Visa, Mastercard. Overnight, you find yourself without a bank card, and these companies have an almost complete monopoly, at least in Europe." On one hand, this shows how important it is for paper cash to have first-class citizen status when it comes to legal tender. On the other hand, how does the largest single currency zone in the world not have its own debit card settlement system? The Germany-only Girocard appears to have been mostly phased out, and doesn't work outside Germany unless it's co-branded with MC/Visa. Same with France's Card Bancaire. Besides that, 39% of online purchases in Germany are made through PayPal or MC/Visa. [0] https://stripe.com/en-ca/resources/more/payment-methods-germany https://stripe.com/en-ca/resources/more/payment-methods-germ...
- mdhb 10mo agoThere’s a digital euro launching next year AFAIK which is designed to replace Mastercard and Visa. It’s been in the works for ages and is coming online at a pretty critical time it seems. It comes with a full digital wallet infrastructure part of it too. So some of the fundamental tech scene is definitely changing in Europe. https://www.ecb.europa.eu/euro/digital_euro/html/index.en.html https://www.ecb.europa.eu/euro/digital_euro/html/index.en.ht...
- tucnak 10mo agoGNU Taler is not coming? :-( Whatever happened to NGI Taler program anyway?
- rendx 10mo agoIt's still going. NGI ("Next Generation Internet") is a Horizon Europe program, part of the EU's mission to strengthen European economy. It doesn't mean that any of the projects that receive subgrants from that pot are officially adopted for anything. It is the NGI grantees who decide which subgrantees receive funding, not the EU (in this case, NLnet Foundation). Hundreds of open source projects have received financial support from this pot.
- 10mo ago
- ekjhgkejhgk 10mo agoThe Israelis control the US government.
- MPSFounder 10mo ago[flagged]
- silexia 10mo ago[flagged]
- rendx 10mo agoYou may want to look up "sanction" in a dictionary, and then come back and explain how the ICC sanctioned anyone. They have zero executive power.
- carbonbioxide 10mo agowell well well, if it isn't mr I'm gonna call "far left" anything I don't agree with. GAFL
- ycombinary 10mo agoThe US is not a serious country anymore.
- duxup 10mo agoThe whole banned via banking thing is scary. A local business in my area was flagged as some sort of illicit operation. There was almost no way to know it even happened outside being unable to take payment ... that was it. No notice, no reason why, no recourse for them. They had google for their life for weeks talking to people online who it happened to and make dozens upon dozens of phone calls and explain the whole saga every time. Tons of false leads and promises for folks to call them back who never did. They eventually found that it was some old bank they were in good standing with who after weeks of not responding, still couldn't explain why, but they said they apparently flagged them. It was undone after about 12 weeks and ultimately only because someone at this random bank took the initiative to lift the flag, but they didn't have to. The process is completely opaque and you effectively have no rights to know or resolve anything.
- xbmcuser 10mo agoAnother reason for the world to move off the dollar system. And now even European countries/banking system will be more into de-dollarisation
- vinni2 10mo agoThis is a bit old > The 125 member states of the Court will hold their annual Assembly in The Hague, Netherlands, in early December. I wonder if they made any progress after that.
- csfNight167 10mo agoThis is so sad. The rule of law does not apply to the world’s hegemon or its closest allies. Nearly four decades ago, the then senator Joe Biden told Congress that Israel was “the best $3bn investment we make”, claiming that “were there not an Israel, the United States of America would have to invent an Israel to protect her interest in the region”. The US regards Israel as an indispensable strategic asset, which is why it is the biggest ever recipient of US foreign aid, including military assistance. Washington will keep supplying the weapons that enable Israeli war crimes – and then threaten anyone who tries to hold the perpetrators to account. Guillou and his colleagues issued their warrants after a lengthy, cautious legal process. The case against the Israeli politicians focused on the use of starvation, which Israeli leaders routinely confessed to.