JURIST - Paper Chase: Sudan ambassador says ICC prosecutor a 'terrorist', calls for removal

[JURIST] Sudanese UN ambassador Abdel-Mahmood Mohamed told Reuters [report] Wednesday that International Criminal Court (ICC) [official backgrounder] Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo [official profile] is a terrorist. He said that the ICC's plan [Reuters report] to divert the plane of Minister for Humanitarian Affairs Ahmed Harun [TrialWatch profile] in order to arrest him constitutes terrorism and piracy, for which Moreno-Ocampo should be removed from office. Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir [BBC profile] agreed, telling an Egyptian news service that the ICC is a terrorist organization. An ICC spokeswoman said last week that the court attempted the plan in December, when Harun was scheduled to make a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia, but Harun learned of the plan and called off his trip. Mohamed also criticized the unspecified other countries that had cooperated with the plan, and said that officials in Sudan are considering what actions to take against Moreno-Ocampo. The Sudan Tribune has additional coverage.

Last week Sudan accused the Chief Prosecutor of hindering the peace process for Darfur [Reuters report] by preparing a "fictitious and vicious" case against its government officials after Moreno-Ocampo alleged that top Sudanese officials had been directly involved [JURIST report] in the planning, execution, and cover-up of atrocities committed against Darfur residents. In December 2007, Sudan rejected [JURIST report] Moreno-Ocampo's previous report to the UN Security Council, in which he condemned Sudan for failing to hand over Harun. In February 2007, Moreno-Ocampo asked the ICC to issue a summons [JURIST report] for Harun for "crimes against the civilian population in Darfur," and in May 2007, the ICC issued an arrest warrant [text, PDF; JURIST report] for him. Al-Bashir has since refused to cooperate [JURIST report] with the ICC.

For a one-stop snapshot of the latest legal news that matters, with breaking documents, new legal videos, live law-related webcasts, commentary by expert law professors and more - all updated through the day in real time, with no ads and no registration barriers - visit JURIST's homepage and check back often...