KOTA BARU: Pas has welcomed Malaysia’s withdrawal from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Its spiritual leader Datuk Hashim Jasin said it was a good move which would benefit Islam, and that Pas held to the principle of supporting any move that was for the good of Islam.
“We always welcome anything that benefits Islam. We will be together with the Prime Minister (Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad on this,” he said after opening the Kota Baru Pas division’s 52nd annual general meeting here today.
On Friday, Dr Mahathir had announced that Malaysia was withdrawing from the Rome Statute following the confusion arising politically and within the society on it, stressing that the decision was not because the Statute was harmful to the country.
He said Malaysia, which acceded to the Rome Statute on March 4, could withdraw from it before June this year.
The decision to withdraw from the Statute was made collectively at the Cabinet meeting yesterday, Dr Mahathir said.
He added that the decision was taken because certain people, who had their own vested interests, had misled people into thinking that Malaysia would lose its sovereignty and that the position of the Malays and institution of the Malay royalty would be affected because the country acceded to the statute.
However, he warned that even though Malaysia was withdrawing from the statute, “prince or pauper” would face the consequences if they broke the law.
The ICC was established in 2002 and governed by the Rome Statute.
The ICC is the first permanent, treaty-based, international criminal court, with the objective to end impunity against the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community, namely genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes of aggression. – BERNAMA