Alpha Khan, in a recent interview on AYV said that President Julius Maada Bio was not invited by the International Criminal Court (ICC) but was that the ICC requested a meeting with the president.

When the presenter of the program asked him about the situation of invitation from ICC to President Bio, Alpha Khan replied by saying “No the ICC did not invite the president but request to have a meeting with him when he was in New York. Request is different from invitation.”

He also said that people should understand to comprehend messages. He said people misinterpreted the letter coming from the ICC and asked the presenter to grant him some time to read the letter which he was granted. He noted words like “respectfully,” and “opportunity” and said the prosecutor had wanted a discussion with the president after the attended session that the he was there for.

He said that people should not forget that in June they Sierra Leone among five others to be a member nations was voted as a Non-Permanent Member of UN Security Council. He added that Sierra Leone got the highest votes of 188 out of 192 countries that voted.  He said winning the elections with such votes means that these countries have confidence in the President and recognize his peaceful nature. He said they voted for him unanimously if he could say.

Alpha Khan also stated that the meeting with Bio is to discuss Sierra Leone’s role as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council. He added the meeting is simply because the ICC is a sub-set of the UN Security Council.

He stated that Sierra Leone will be working with the ICC for the next two years on issues relating to peace and security.

Alpha Khan further stated that ICC’s request could either be accepted or not because it’s a request. He added that Bio will, however, not deny the request because he would want to have a conference with them.