Facing US sanctions, the International Criminal Court is up for the European Union's top rights prize Thursday, with supporters pressing its case as a show of support for a fraying rules-based world order.
The European Parliament has named the Netherlands-based tribunal among the three finalists for its Sakharov Prize alongside Tanzania opposition leader Tundu Lissu and twin sisters Taraneh and Romina Rahimi, representing those prosecuted by the Iranian government.
The winner will be announced on Thursday after being chosen by senior lawmakers, ahead of an awards ceremony in December, said AFP.
Set up in 1988 and named after Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov, the prize is bestowed annually on individuals or organizations to recognize their fight for human rights or democracy.
Contenders are nominated by parliament's political groups as well as individual lawmakers.
Lissu, head of Tanzania's opposition Chadema party, was detained in April 2025. He faces a possible death penalty if convicted of treason for allegedly inciting the public to boycott last year's elections.
Taraneh and Romina Rahimi, 21, have respectively been sentenced to death and 36 years in prison for having taken part in anti-government protests in Iran.
But it is a potential victory of the ICC which could prove the most eye-catching, given the potential for upsetting Washington.
- 'Brick by brick' -
This month, the United States announced sanctions against the ICC aimed at crippling the day-to-day operations of the court, which tries individuals for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
US President Donald Trump's administration has vowed to dismantle the court "brick by brick", furious that judges have issued an arrest warrant for Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for alleged crimes in Gaza.
"We stand by the ICC and its officials, and we are committed to safeguarding its work," said Yannis Maniatis, a lawmaker with the center-left S&D group, which backed the ICC nomination.
"Protecting the principles upon which our world is built is essential to defending our democracy and our values."
The nomination comes after ex-ICC judge Navi Pillay, who also served as UN rights chief, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize this month -- a choice Trump slammed as "disgraceful", arguing the award should have gone to him.
Lissu, however, appears to be the favorite to win.
He was nominated by the center-right EPP grouping, the biggest in the parliament.
"There is no doubt about the political nature of his detention," said German MEP David McAllister.
"The European Union must no longer tolerate the criminalization of legitimate opposition work or the manipulation of the judiciary in Tanzania."
Recent high-profile winners of the Sakharov prize have been Venezuelan opposition chief Maria Corina Machado, deceased Russian Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny and the people of Ukraine.
