Government to appeal ‘Bashir judgment’
THE government said yesterday morning that it had decided to appeal the recent High Court judgment relating to the controversial departure of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir from the country.
Government spokesperson Phumla Williams said: “Government has decided to appeal the recent High Court (Gauteng) judgment on the matter relating to President of Sudan Omar al-Bashir. The reasons will be contained in the affidavit that will be submitted.”
Last week, the High Court in Pretoria requested the National Director of Public Prosecutions to consider initiating criminal charges over Bashir’s departure from South Africa, despite a High Court order expressly prohibiting it.
“The departure of President Bashir from this country in the full awareness of the explicit order of Sunday, June 14, objectively viewed, demonstrates non-compliance with that order,” Judge President Dunstan Mlambo said on behalf of a full Bench of the North Gauteng High Court, which included Judge Aubrey Ledwaba and Judge Hans Fabricius. “For this reason, we find it prudent to invite the National Director of Public Prosecutions to consider whether criminal proceedings are appropriate.”
The court had demanded that government explain why Bashir was allowed to leave South Africa on June 15, despite the interim court order barring him from departure issued by Judge Fabricius on June 14.
“It is of concern to this court that it issues orders and then things just happen in violation of those orders,” the court said.
In its replying affidavit submitted late last week, the government said Sudanese officials had failed to present Bashir’s passport to the immigration officer at Waterkloof Air Force Base, meaning the Sudanese head of state’s departure from South Africa had broken protocol.
According to the affidavit, the immigration officer on duty had checked all the passports presented by a Sudanese delegation as it was preparing to leave the country and had not seen Bashir’s passport among those submitted.
Mlambo had said the three presiding judges were of the view that Bashir should have been detained.
Bashir has been indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. As a member of the ICC, South Africa is obliged to arrest him.
The initial application before the High Court in Pretoria was brought by an NGO, the Southern Africa Litigation Centre, which had sought to compel the government to fulfill its obligations to the ICC by arresting Bashir who was in the country to attend the 25th African Union Summit.
In the wake of the furore over the Bashir incident, government said it had not knowingly defied the court order barring him from leaving the country. Minister in the Presidency Jeff Radebe said the cabinet was reviewing its membership of the international tribunal.