South Africa’s main opposition party Friday filed criminal charges against several government and police officials for failing in 2015 to arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) made the move two days after a court had thrown up a roadblock to the government’s attempts to part ways with the international tribunal, saying it should not have taken the decision without seeking parliamentary approval.
The government had earlier justified the withdrawal by saying that ICC membership hampered its efforts to resolve conflicts in Africa, highlighting the dilemma it had faced over al-Bashir.
The Sudanese president, wanted for war crimes by the ICC, attended an African Union summit in Johannesburg in June 2015.
The government allowed him to return home, following which a court in the administrative capital Pretoria and an appeals court ruled that it had acted unlawfully.
The DA said it had filed charges against several members of the cabinet, the police force, and senior government officials whom it accused of failing to uphold the law.
A Pretoria court ruled Wednesday that the government had acted unconstitutionally when announcing in October that South Africa would leave the ICC without consulting parliament.
Dpa was unable Friday to obtain a comment from the Justice Ministry.
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