On the website of the Sudanese daily newspaper Sudan Vision, the former Secretary General of the Arab Bar Association, Farouq Abu Issa is quoted as saying:
"In my capacity as the Secretary General to the Arab Bar Association, I used to urge the Arab rulers to join the ICC [International Criminal Court] with which I was totally convinced. But, the present international political environment within which the ICC is operating renders its moves against Sudan [ie the arrest warrant sought against President Ahmad al-Bashir] as risking the overall security and stability of the country, hence, the surrender of any national to this Court will escalate such risks. Therefore, I hereby, announce my rejection of any interaction with the ICC, given the double standard dealing that I had witnessed with my very eyes when I was a member to the Defense Board during Lockerbie case prosecution. So, I hereby, would like to advise not only the Sudan, rather, all the Arab States to refrain from dealing with the International Criminal Court."
The Lockerbie trial, of course, was not held in the ICC but in a Scottish court sitting in The Netherlands. Whether Mr Abu Issa was a member of the "Defence Board" (presumably the international group of lawyers convened by Dr Ibrahim Legwell, the then Libyan lawyer acting for Messrs Megrahi and Fhimah) I do not know.
The full article can be read here.
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