The government of the Republic of South Africa is negotiating with high-level representatives of Russia on the upcoming visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to the country to participate in the BRICS summit. According to the South African newspaper The Sunday Times, South Africa asked Putin not to come to the summit to prevent a diplomatic conflict over an International Criminal Court warrant for his arrest..
The publication notes that in the event of a visit by the Russian leader, the South African authorities will have to arrest him on the basis of the decision of the ISS, which is binding on countries participating in the Rome Statute.. Therefore, Pretoria invited Moscow to take part in the BRICS summit via video link.
“We have no option not to arrest Putin. If he comes here, we will have to do it,” said a spokesman for the South African government.
Last week, South African President Cyril Ramaposa set up a special government committee, headed by the country's vice president, to study options for the authorities to issue a warrant for the arrest of Vladimir Putin, according to The Sunday Times.. According to the interlocutor of the publication, the committee will not be able to find other options, except for Putin's participation in the summit via video link from Moscow..
The Russian edition of Radio Liberty, in turn, notes that officials in the Kremlin confirmed to the publication that Pretoria is negotiating with Moscow.
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The summit of the BRICS countries (a group of the largest developing countries in terms of area and population), to which the Russian president should be invited by status, should be held in August in the Republic of South Africa.
On March 17, the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Ombudsman for Children Maria Lvova-Belova for complicity in kidnapping children from Ukraine.
As a consequence, in the 123 countries that have ratified the Rome Statute, they must be arrested, after which they must be taken to court..
The International Criminal Court's warrant for Putin's arrest, not in words but in practice, perpetuates Russia's powerful diplomatic isolation and deprives its leader of the freedom to move around the world.. But what happens if some states violate their obligations? What consequences await them? Erik Kucherenko figured this out in the article "