archive.is link

This summer Kimberly Prost, a Canadian judge at the International Criminal Court (ICC), arrived at her home in The Hague and, as was her habit, called out “Alexa”.

There was silence. The voice-activated assistant did not respond. “Alexa was dead. She wouldn’t talk to me,” Prost recalled in an interview with The Irish Times.

Prost had been added to the United States’ sanctions list, because in 2020 she ruled to authorise an investigation into possible atrocities in Afghanistan, including by US troops. Amazon, obliged to implement the sanctions as a US company, had cancelled her account.

It was just the start of what Prost describes as a “pervasive, negative effect” of the sanctions across all aspects of her life, which has shut her out from much of the international banking system.

top 11 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old

[–] sun_is_ra@sh.itjust.works 34 points 4 months ago (4 children)

The idiot will push more countries away fron US financial institutions and toward chinese ones

[–] Korkki@lemmy.ml 32 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

The idiot Don't make claims that this is just Trump. 'The Hague Invasion Act' was Bush II era invention and kept by every American president and congress since. Bush sr. had his famous quote: "I will never apologize for the United States — I don’t care what the facts are" after downing an iranian passenger plane apparently by accident. It's great joy of the empire to be vindictive and petty and flee from any consequence. The last thing american elites will do is show some strategic humility and common sense, even if it's to stop bleeding allies.

[–] HiddenLayer555@lemmy.ml 13 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Silver lining I guess

[–] fodor@lemmy.zip 6 points 4 months ago

This is actually great news. These judges have the money and power and political support to help drive such change. Poor folk would just get fucked because what could they do.

[–] KimBongUn420@lemmy.ml 6 points 4 months ago

Good.

[–] explodicle@sh.itjust.works 2 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Why not European?

[–] sun_is_ra@sh.itjust.works 7 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

I didn't know that Europe has a financial system that work ~~indecently~~ independently from American one.

For example:

US has Visa, Mastercard and American Express. China has Union Pay.

What does Europe have?

[–] pousserapiere@lemmy.world 4 points 4 months ago

Many national systems.

Direct free instantaneous bank transfers in the SEPA member states. And the systems built upon it like ideal/wero/blue chip and others.

As far as I know most of Europe favors debit instead of credit cards. Financial life in the EU is organised completely differently from North America (well, at least from USA and Canada, haven't been to Mexico yet).

[–] KimBongUn420@lemmy.ml 6 points 4 months ago

European politics are a joke and is basically the same imperialist bs the US does. It's why those colonizers are getting kicked out in Africa more and more

[–] Transform2942@lemmy.ml 21 points 4 months ago

I wonder how many humiliations the Europeans will suffer before they wake up

[–] dx1@lemmy.ml 14 points 4 months ago

Seems like an incredibly bad idea for an ICC judge to be using Alexa/"OK Google"/Siri in any capacity.