Malaysia to fully support countries referring Israel to the International Criminal Court, says Anwar

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will fully support all efforts of other countries to refer Israel to the International Criminal Court (ICC) over atrocities against Palestine, says Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

The Prime Minister said that the country has given its assistance previously on such efforts although it is not a signatory or a member state of the Rome Statute.

“Yes, we did not sign the Rome Statute, but the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) has attended this year’s (ICC conference) to provide assistance – that is allowed.

“We also have informed Türkiye President (Recep Tayyip) Erdogan that Malaysia is ready with support, including sending representatives and providing legal advisory," he said in the Dewan Rakyat on Tuesday (Nov 21).

Anwar said this in reply to a supplementary question from Wan Ahmad Fayshal Wan Ahmad Kamal (PN-Machang) who asked whether the government will support efforts by other countries such as South Africa, Bolivia and others, to refer Israel to the ICC.

On Nov 17, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) said he had received a joint request from five countries to investigate the situation in the Palestinian territories.

Prosecutor Karim Kahn said the referral had come from South Africa, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Comoros and Djibouti.

South Africa said the request was made "to ensure that the ICC pays urgent attention to the grave situation in Palestine."

Last month,Kahn said that his office had jurisdiction both over Hamas' attack on Israel on Oct 7 and any crimes committed as part of Israel's response including bombings in the Gaza Strip.

Last Saturday, Erdogan said there was “ample evidence” to hold the Israeli government accountable at the ICC and Türkiye would do everything in its power to ensure that these crimes would be punished impartially.