Arresting Vladimir Putin would amount to a declaration of war on Russia, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said in documents released Tuesday, amid a nationwide debate over the Russian president’s reception in the country for the Bric summit.
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Vladimir Putin has been invited to the summit of this group of five major emerging powers (South Africa, Brazil, China, India and Russia) scheduled for August 22-24 in Johannesburg, currently chaired by Pretoria.
But since March, the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant against the Russian president for the war crime of “deporting” Ukrainian children since the invasion of Ukraine, an accusation that Moscow denies altogether.
As a member of the International Criminal Court, South Africa is theoretically obliged to arrest Vladimir Putin if he enters its territory. A serious diplomatic dilemma for Pretoria, which has refused to condemn Moscow since the beginning of the war in Ukraine.
The case has taken a legal turn as South Africa’s main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), is in court trying to force the government to ensure Vladimir Putin is arrested and handed over to the ICC. He enters the country.
In an affidavit, Mr Ramaphosa called the prosecutor’s request “irresponsible”.
“Russia has made it clear that any arrest of its incumbent president would amount to a declaration of war. “It would not be consistent with our constitution to risk drawing the country into a war with Russia,” he wrote, saying it would violate his duty to protect the country.
South Africa is seeking an exemption from the ICC rules on the grounds that Vladimir Putin’s arrest could endanger “the security, peace and order of the state,” Mr Ramaphosa specified in the text, signed in court in June and originally classified as confidential decided to make it public.
In a recent interview with local media, South African Vice President Paul Mashatile said his government had tried to persuade Vladimir Putin not to come, but so far without success.
The BRICS group intends to become more involved in international institutions that have so far been dominated by the United States and Europe. The Johannesburg Summit, held at a convention center, will be their fifteenth.