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International Criminal Court Plans to Replace Microsoft With Germany’s OpenDesk

The move follows U.S. sanctions pressure after the chief prosecutor’s Microsoft‑hosted email was blocked.

Overview

  • Reports say the court is close to signing with Germany’s Zendis to roll out the OpenDesk suite across about 1,800 workstations.
  • ICC registrar and IT lead Osvaldo Zavala Giler said the institution must reduce dependencies to strengthen technological autonomy despite short‑term costs and inconvenience.
  • The planned shift is driven by sanctions concerns, including this year’s loss of access to Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan’s Microsoft email, after which he temporarily used Proton.
  • Microsoft executive Brad Smith characterized the email incident as isolated and said the company reviewed internal procedures to prevent a recurrence.
  • The prospective migration fits a broader European turn toward open‑source, sovereign IT solutions, while Khan separately remains on leave during an internal misconduct investigation.