KUALA LUMPUR, April 5 — A visibly incensed Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today asked Rome Statute critics in the Opposition where their sense of justice was when his predecessor, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, allegedly stole money.

The prime minister alleged that there was also an attempt by fear-mongering critics to undermine the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government by accusing it of surrendering the country’s sovereignty to foreign nations.

He also accused his critics of politicising the government’s decision to ratify the Rome Statute as a means to divert attention from the authorities’ crackdown on them for alleged wrongdoings.

"There is no way they (foreign powers) can interfere, but during that time, when this country was being sold to outsiders, these people who talk about the Statute of Rome, did not say anything.

"When Najib stole money, when Najib sold land and did so many things, they didn’t say a word. They were hiding, I don’t know where, but they were worried action might be taken against them.

"But now that we want to have a rule of law and we want to take action against them, they bring up this matter,” he said, referring to the Rome Statute.

Dr Mahathir also addressed accusations labelling him as a traitor to his race, saying that it was he who had helped the Malays.

"It’s ok, call me a traitor, go ahead, but they are worse traitors than me.

"This is a political issue. Not a question about the law. It is about political issue. Trying to blacken the name of this government, including myself and I know why because I have been very strict about this money-laundering and things like that,” Dr Mahathir said.

However, he warned wrongdoers that the government would still continue to crack down on them, regardless of their social status.

"Whoever breaches the law, we don’t care who they are. Whether they are prince or pauper we will take action. That is our stand,” he said.

Dr Mahathir earlier announced that the Cabinet has decided to withdraw Malaysia’s accession to the Rome Statute, a treaty that establishes the International Criminal Court (ICC), which investigates international crimes like genocide and war crimes.

He said that the PH government’s decision to withdraw, just weeks after it acceded to the ICC, was made because of public confusion, as he accused detractors of trying to create a row between the royalty and the government.