In case Russian President Vladimir Putin accepts an invitation to the BRICS conference in August, South Africa is considering its options regarding an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC).
South Africa reconsiders its response to Vladimir Putin
South Africa, an ICC member, would potentially be compelled to detain Putin in accordance with the court’s March arrest order, which charged him with the war crime of forcefully removing children from Ukrainian territory under Russian occupation.
The claims have been refuted by Moscow. A top-ranking Russian official also rejected the notion of holding the meeting in China.
Putin had already been invited by South Africa on January 25 to the BRICS leaders’ summit of developing economies, which will take place in Johannesburg from August 22–24. The BRICS nations are Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
Zane Dangor, director-general of the department of international affairs, stated that “there has not been a firm decision,” and he added that ministers allocated to the issue would soon convene to review a report outlining the choices.
South African officials are considering asking the previous group chair, China, to host the summit, a senior government source who spoke on the record said on Wednesday.
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According to Interfax, Sergei Ryabkov, the deputy foreign minister of Russia, claimed on Thursday that rumours that the BRICS meeting will be moved from South Africa to China were untrue.
Tuesday’s announcement by the Kremlin that Russia would participate at the “proper level” was made.
In an interview with radio station 702 on May 25, former president Thabo Mbeki, whose opinions on international affairs are very influential among government officials, suggested that it was improbable that the summit would take place in South Africa.
Mbeki remarked, “We have to arrest President Putin because of our legal commitments, but we can’t do that.
Obed Bapela, a deputy minister, said the BBC on Tuesday that South Africa intended to adopt laws giving Pretoria the choice of whether or not to detain figures wanted by the ICC.
An inquiry for comment from Bapela was not answered. Under the condition of anonymity, a justice department official claimed there wouldn’t be enough time to pass such a law through parliament before to the summit.
All leaders present at this week’s meeting including BRICS foreign ministers convening in Cape Town have been granted diplomatic immunity by South Africa, which was announced on Monday. However, the department of international relations claimed that this was usual practise for all international conferences held in South Africa.
According to department spokesperson Clayson Monyela, “These immunities do not preempt any warrant that may have been issued by any international tribunal against any conference attendee.”
In response to criticism over its refusal to detain Omar al-Bashir, the former president of Sudan who is wanted for alleged genocide, when he visited an African Union meeting in Johannesburg in 2015, Africa earlier indicated its intention to leave the ICC.
In December, the country’s ruling African National Congress agreed that SouthAfrica should give up on the procedure and try to transform the ICC inside instead.