Government backfires after outrage over pledge of immunity: will South Africa arrest Putin after all?

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Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin (70) coming to South Africa in August? Chances are, the 15th BRICS summit will take place in Johannesburg in the summer. The heads of state of the alliance countries Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa will meet there. An opportunity for Putin to present himself to the world surrounded by allies.

However, there is a catch for the Russian president: the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague has issued an arrest warrant for Putin over the atrocities of the war in Ukraine. Since South Africa signed the Rome Statute with 123 other countries, the country should arrest and extradite Putin to the ICC as soon as he sets foot on South African soil.

Government backs out on immunity

The South African government led by Cyril Ramaphosa (70) announced on Tuesday that all participants in the summit have been granted diplomatic immunity. Also the Russian delegation. So is the alleged war criminal Putin. The outcry was great – nationally and internationally. The Democratic Alliance (DA), the opposition of ruling party ANC, has even threatened legal action.

That had an effect: the government rowed back on Tuesday evening. “These immunities are without prejudice to any arrest warrant that may have been issued by an international court against a conference participant,” the State Department’s (DIRCO) website says.

However, the DA is not yet satisfied. That is all easier said than done, the opposition party writes on Wednesday. “The prosecutor is calling on DIRCO to follow up their official statement with action.” The Russian embassy should be told “that the South African government will execute the arrest warrant when the Russian president attends the BRICS summit in August.”

Will South Africa comply?

The question is whether South Africa will actually comply with the Rome Statute. Because South Africa and Russia have a long friendship. During the Cold War, the Kremlin supported the ANC in its fight against apartheid. In January, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (73) paid an official visit to Pretoria and in February South Africa held a controversial joint military exercise with Russia and China. And in early June, a meeting of the BRICS foreign ministers will be held in Cape Town, where Lavrov will also be present.

Moreover, it is not the first time that South Africa has refused to arrest a politician who is the subject of an international manhunt. In 2015, the South African government allowed then Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, 79, to leave the country after visiting Pretoria during an African Union summit. And this despite the fact that there were two outstanding arrest warrants from the ICC for genocide and war crimes in Darfur.

Source: Blick