NAYPYIDAW, Myanmar: Myanmar on Friday “resolutely” rejected a ruling by the International Criminal Court empowering the tribunal to probe alleged crimes against the Rohingya even though the Southeast Asian nation is not a member of it.
In an unprecedented ruling on Thursday the ICC said it had jurisdiction over the crisis because of the cross-border nature of the alleged “deportations” of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims to Bangladesh.
But in a stinging response Myanmar’s government said the decision was “of dubious legal merit,” according to a statement released by the president’s office late Friday, adding the country was “under no obligation” to respect the court ruling.
“The decision was the result of manifest bad faith, procedural irregularities and general lack of transparency,” the statement said, adding the country “resolutely rejects” the court ruling.
Myanmar has come under intense global pressure in recent weeks over its crackdown on the Rohingya, a group it denies citizenship to.
The ICC upped the ante on Thursday ruling that it had the power to investigate the forced deportations, even though Myanmar has not signed the statute underpinning the tribunal.
Bangladesh is a signatory, however, and the judges said that the deportation of the Rohingya amounted to a cross-border crime, thereby giving the court the right to pursue the issue further.
Its ruling means that the ICC’s chief prosecutor can now open a preliminary investigation that could lead to a wider probe and eventually a trial.
Last week a damning UN report called for military chief Min Aung Hlaing and other top generals to be prosecuted for “genocide,” which was swiftly followed by Facebook pulling down the profile pages of several military top brass.
Besieged by criticism from the outside, Myanmar has denied abuses but has barred journalists and diplomats from independently visiting Rakhine state — the epicenter of the crackdown — except on short, military-chaperoned trips.
The ICC ruling followed international outrage triggered by the sentencing of two Reuters journalists — both Myanmar nationals — on Monday to seven years in jail under a draconian state secrets act.
Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, had been investigating the extrajudicial killing of Rohingya villagers when they were arrested in December last year.
Rights groups decried the case as a sham trial in a country where press freedom is shrinking.
Myanmar rejects ICC decision over Rohingya crisis
Myanmar rejects ICC decision over Rohingya crisis
- The decision opens up the possibility of crimes against Rohingya people being prosecuted at the Hague-based court, even though Myanmar is not a member of the court
- Investigators working for the UN's top human rights body said that Myanmar military leaders should be prosecuted for genocide against Rohingya Muslims
Ukraine’s Zelensky: We have backed US peace proposals to get a deal done
- “The tactic we chose is for the Americans not to think that we want to continue the war,” Zelensky told The Atlantic
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv had sought to back US peace proposals to end the war with Russia as President Donald Trump seeks to resolve the conflict before November mid-term elections.
Zelensky, in an interview published by The Atlantic on Thursday, said Kyiv was willing to hold both a presidential election and a referendum on a deal, but would not settle for an accord that was detrimental to Ukraine’s interests.
“The tactic we chose is for the Americans not to think that we want to continue the war,” Zelensky told the US-based publication. “That’s why we started supporting their proposals in any format that speeds things along.”
He said Ukraine was “not afraid of anything. Are we ready for elections? We’re ready. Are we ready for a referendum? We’re ready.”
Zelensky has sought to build good relations with Washington since an Oval Office meeting in February 2025 descended into a shouting match with Trump and US Vice President JD Vance.
But he said he had rejected a proposal, reported this week by the Financial Times, to announce the votes on February 24, the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion. A ceasefire and proposed US security guarantees against a future invasion had not yet been settled, he said.
“No one is clinging to power,” The Atlantic quoted him as saying. “I am ready for elections. But for that we need security, guarantees of security, a ceasefire.”
And he added: “I don’t think we should put a bad deal up for a referendum.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Zelensky is not a legitimate negotiating partner because he has not faced election since coming to power in 2019.
Zelensky has said in recent weeks that a document on security guarantees for Ukraine is all but ready to be signed.
But, in his remarks, he acknowledged that details remained unresolved, including whether the US would be willing to shoot down incoming missiles over Ukraine if Russia were to violate the peace.
“This hasn’t been fixed yet,” Zelensky said. “We have raised it, and we will continue to raise these questions...We need all of this to be written out.”
