Al-Bashir saga: govt denied leave to appeal
The government may not appeal the court ruling that it acted unconstitutionally when it did not arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.
A full bench of the court has today ruled that the Implementation Act did not give heads of state immunity from prosecution on criminal charges, as argued by government.
In June, the State was ordered by the court to detain Al-Bashir while he was attending the African Union summit in Johannesburg.
But instead the Sudanese leader's way was cleared to allow him to leave the country from the Waterkloof Airforce Base, just hours before the court gave the order.
The Justice Department's Mthunzi Mhaga says they are considering their next move.
"We will reflect on the judgement and the issues raised therein after which we will then decide whether to appeal and the only way to do so would be to directly petition the Supreme Court of Appeals to allow us to argue the matter before them.
"That should be done within 20 days from today," he said.
The Southern Africa Litigation Centre brought the application to force government to arrest Al-Bashir and as a signatory to the Rome Satute, effect a warrant of arrest issued by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes and genocide
The centre's Angela Mudukuti says they are thrilled about today's court outcome.
"We believe that the High Court judgement was a strong judgement and correct in law. So we stand by this and we think that the court has been exemplary in its handling of this case," she said.
(File photo)