By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Authorities in South Africa have said they may be mandated to arrest Russia’s President, Vladimir Putin if he lands Pretoria in August to participate in the upcoming summit of BRICS countries.
“We have no option not to arrest Putin,” a government official said. “If he comes here, we will have to arrest him.”
Pretoria instead is urging the Russian leader who has been declared wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to join the bloc meeting via zoom.
As a member of the ICC, South Africa is under obligation to hand over Putin to investigators.
Last week, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed a special government committee headed by the country’s vice president to study the Vladimir Putin’s international arrest warrant, a local newspaper reported.
The committee will not be able to find “any options that would allow Putin to come,” the paper’s sources said. “The only option we have is for [Putin] to participate in the summit via Teams or Zoom from Moscow.”
Last week, South Africa’s Presidency officially confirmed that the country has no plans to withdraw from the Rome Statute of the ICC, denying Ramaphosa’s comment that Pretoria is considering exiting its membership.
The Kremlin said it had not yet decided whether Putin would attend the August summit.
The International Criminal Court in The Hague issued arrest warrants on March 17 for Putin and Russian Children’s Ombudsperson Maria Lvova-Belova.
They are accused of illegally deporting children from Ukraine to Russia since Feb. 24, 2022.
Putin may be arrested in 123 countries that have ratified the Rome Statute, which South Africa belongs to.
Membership of the bloc is drawn from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
