South Africa’s Obligation to Arrest the Head of the Kremlin: Implications and Challenges

2023-07-19 03:25:41

With our correspondent in Johannesburg, Claire Bargelès

While the South African president still refuses to speak clearly on the subject, documents made public by the courts have spoken for him. As a signatory to the Rome Statute, South Africa would be in the obligation to arrest the head of the Kremlin if he were to appear on his soil during the BRICS summits.

But according to Cyril Ramaphosa, “ Russia has made it clear that arresting its sitting president would be a declaration of war. And it would not be consistent with our Constitution to risk going to war ” with her. The South African head of state responded in these documents to a request from the country’s main opposition party, which is trying to ensure that justice will take its course if Vladimir Putin appears in person.

Read alsoBRICS summit to be held in South Africa with or without Putin’s presence

As Paul Mashatile, the South African vice-president, has detailed in local media, the Russian head of state has so far refused the other options offered by Pretoria, namely an online intervention or the dispatch of his Minister of Foreign Affairs. Moving the summit to another country also failed.

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