Malaysia has written to the United Nations (UN) to inform it of its decision to withdraw from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on April 29, said Putrajaya.

"On April 5, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad announced the cabinet's decision that Malaysia would withdraw from the Rome Statute.

"After taking into consideration all necessary steps of implementation, the government of Malaysia submitted a letter on the withdrawal of Malaysia from Rome Statute to the secretary-general of UN, who is also the depository of the treaty, on April 29.

"UN will remove Malaysia from the list of Rome Statute after completing the (relevant) procedure," said Putrajaya.

Gov't to look into Rome Statute

In an interview on Monday, Mahathir said the government will look into the compatibility of the Rome Statute with local culture.

Mahathir said the government had to backtrack on its decision to ratify the statute because some people “twisted information” when they knew nothing about it.

“But we will explain to them (the people) why the Rome Statute will not do any harm to anyone who is not a criminal,” said the premier.

Earlier this month, Umno supreme council member Lokman Noor Adam threatened to mobilise one million people to attend a rally 10 days after Hari Raya Aidilfitri to protest against the ratification of the Rome Statute.

He said he wasn't convinced by the government's decision to withdraw from the international treaty.