Arresting Putin in South Africa would be ‘DECLARATION OF WAR’, says Ramaphosa
South Africa has just brushed aside the crazy and foolhardy demand of the International Criminal Court and also some of the West European countries. South African would have to face war with Russia if it arrested Russian President Vladimir Putin at a diplomatic summit in Johannesburg next month. Other BRICS countries will also not tolerate such actions from a fellow BRICS.
Ramaphosa made the revelations in a court affidavit made public on Tuesday.
He was responding to a petition by South Africa’s largest opposition political party, the Democratic Alliance, that asked a court in Pretoria, the nation’s executive capital, to force the government to arrest Putin if he attended the summit, in Johannesburg, in late August.
The court is expected to hear arguments in the case on Friday.
As per NYT, Putin is the subject of an arrest warrant on accusations related to the war in Ukraine by the International Criminal Court, and the warrant makes South Africa — as a signatory to the court — legally obliged to arrest the Russian president.
“Russia has made it clear that arresting Putin would be a declaration of war,” Ramaphosa said in his affidavit.
“It would be inconsistent with our Constitution to risk engaging in war with Russia,” NYT quoted the 32-page affidavit.
Ramaphosa argued in his affidavit that South Africa’s Bill of Rights required the government to protect and promote certain rights, including “the right to be free from all forms of violence.”
“An act that would be perceived as a declaration of war by Russia would be reckless,” Ramaphosa wrote, and conflict with his and “the government’s constitutional obligations,” NYT reported.
The South African President further argued that arresting Putin would conflict with South Africa’s effort to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.
Ramaphosa joined several African leaders last month in meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv and then with Putin in St. Petersburg, Russia, to discuss a path to ending the war — a mission that was met with skepticism from both, NYT reported.
South Africa has no option but to simply reject the nonsensical demand made by the International Criminal Court. It has no rights or powers to try heads of Sovereign States. Arresting Putin if he goes to Johannesburg, will simply mean war.
Ramaphosa added in his affidavit that he was consulting with the leaders of each BRICS country, and he asked the court to give him time to complete the consultation.
Last week, South Africa’s deputy president, Paul Mashatile, said that his country had raised the possibility of holding the summit virtually or moving it to China, but both the options were rejected by South Africa’s BRICS partners. Mashatile added that Russian officials have resisted a suggestion of Putin’s foreign minister attending the summit in his place, NYT reported.
The long-planned meeting of the heads of state of BRICS — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — is scheduled to be held from August 22-24.
