On July 21, the South African government admitted that it had not fulfilled its international obligations, refusing to immediately issue an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin if he entered the country.
source: European Pravda in reference to the South African edition of News24
Details: Last May, the South African Department of Justice received a warrant from the International Criminal Court and, as it has now acknowledged, should have immediately applied to the prosecutor’s office for a national arrest warrant for Putin. Instead, they opted to initiate consultation proceedings with the court in The Hague.
At that time, South African and Russian officials publicly stated that Putin could come to the BRICS summit in South Africa despite the ICC mandate (and South Africa is in court and obligated to comply).
In this regard, the opposition Democratic Alliance party went to court to force the authorities to seek an arrest warrant against Putin.
On Friday, the court confirmed that South African authorities had requested a warrant from the prosecutor’s office. This means that now the President of Russia will be arrested if he decides to come to South Africa.
The Democratic Alliance, commenting on the message issued by the Gauteng court, said it was public pressure that contributed to the South African authorities’ compliance with their obligations under the Rome Statute.
Earlier: It has been revealed that “by mutual agreement” the Russian president decided not to attend the BRICS summit in the Republic of South Africa, where he should have been arrested on a warrant from the International Criminal Court.
Last week reports emerged that South Africa had asked Russia to send Lavrov instead of Putin, but this was refused.
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