SOUTH African President Cyril Ramaphosa has submitted a request to the International Criminal Court (ICC) seeking permission to refrain from arresting Russian President Vladimir Putin during the upcoming BRICS summit. In a court filing made public on Tuesday, Ramaphosa argued that arresting Putin, who is wanted by the ICC for alleged war crimes related to the deportation of Ukrainian children, would amount to a declaration of war. South Africa, as an ICC member, is obliga
ted to arrest individuals with outstanding warrants if they enter the country.
The court filing was made in response to a case brought forward by the opposition Democratic Alliance, which urged the South African government to arrest Putin should he set foot on South African soil. Ramaphosa cited Article 97 of the ICC’s statutes, which allows states to request an exemption from carrying out an arrest due to specific problems preventing their execution. While Ramaphosa did not disclose details about the proceedings initiated with the ICC, he stressed the complications South Africa faces in executing the arrest warrant.
‘South Africa has obvious problems with executing a request to arrest and surrender President Putin,’ Ramaphosa stated in the affidavit. ‘Russia has made it clear that arresting its sitting President would be a declaration of war.’
While South African officials have confirmed that the BRICS summit will proceed as planned, discussions are underway to explore alternative venues, with speculation that China, a non-ICC signatory, could host the event. Ramaphosa’s court submiss
ion highlighted the potential consequences of arresting Putin, suggesting that it could jeopardise the peace efforts undertaken by him and six African leaders during a recent mission to Kiev and Moscow.
The Kremlin has not publicly announced whether Putin intends to attend the summit, and Ramaphosa stated that no final decision has been made. South Africa’s past failure to arrest former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who had an ICC warrant, during an African Union summit in 2015 led to threats of withdrawal from the ICC.
