By Enyichukwu Enemanna
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa says his country will not make attempt to arrest Russian President, Vladimir Putin next month during his expected participation in the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg.
Ramaphosa says arresting the Russian leader would amount to a declaration of war between South Africa and Moscow, a price he said his country would not pay.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) had issued an arrest warrant for Putin over war crimes in Ukraine over forceful relocation of Ukrainian children.
He has been invited for the summit of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) bloc and as a signatory to the Rome Statute, Pretoria would be expected to carry out the arrest warrant if the Russian president enters the country.
It would be a “reckless, unconstitutional and unlawful exercise of the powers conferred upon the government to declare war with Russia by arresting President Putin”, Ramaphosa said in an affidavit released on Tuesday in response to application compelling him to arrest Putin, describing it as “irresponsible”.
The Democratic Alliance (DA), South Africa’s leading opposition party, had gone to court to compel the government to ensure that Putin is arrested and handed over to ICC.
The South African leader added, “Russia has made it clear that arresting its sitting president would be a declaration of war,” he said.
“It would be inconsistent with our constitution to risk engaging in war with Russia. I have constitutional obligations to protect the national sovereignty, peace and security of the republic, and to respect, protect, promote and fulfil the rights of the people of the republic to life, safety and security, among other rights in the bill of rights.”
The South African president said the country is seeking an exemption under ICC rules based on the fact that effecting the arrest could threaten the “security, peace and order of the state”.
South Africa is the current chair of the BRICS group, which sees itself as alternative to Western economic domination.
