By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Leading opposition political party in South Africa, Democratic Alliance (DA) on Tuesday revealed that it had taken legal action to force the government to arrest Russian President, Vladimir Putin if he steps into the country to participate in August summit of BRICS bloc.
Ahead of the summit expected to have in attendance the Russian leader, South Africa has been faced with a diplomatic dilemma following the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Putin.
DA aid it has commenced a court application to ensure that President Cyril Ramaphosa detains the Russian leader and hands him over to the ICC “should President Putin set foot in South Africa.”
“This pre-emptory court action aims to ensure that South Africa upholds its obligations,” DA shadow minister of justice Glynnis Breytenbach said in a statement.
A member of the ICC, South Africa, which has close diplomatic ties with Moscow, is due to host the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) bloc summit in Durban.
The government has not offered explanations on how it intends to deal with the Russian president’s predicament after the arrest warrant issued on allegations of war crime in Ukraine.
Breytenbach said the DA was seeking a “declaratory order” to avoid a repeat of 2015 when Pretoria failed to arrest then-Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who was similarly wanted by the ICC.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov on Tuesday declined to say whether Putin will travel to South Africa for the summit.
“Russia will be duly represented,” Peskov said, adding Moscow expected its BRICS partners “not be guided” by “illegitimate decisions” such as the ICC arrest warrant.
The DA’s legal action comes as the government granted diplomatic immunity to officials attending a BRICS foreign ministers meeting this week and the grouping’s heads of state summit in August.
Some read the move as a preparatory step to provide legal cover for Putin’s visit but Pretoria has denied it.
“These immunities do not override any warrant that may have been issued by any international tribunal against any attendee of the conference,” South Africa’s foreign affairs department said in a statement.
