CAPE TOWN – In a surprising turn of events, the Democratic Alliance (DA) has compelled the South African government to request the National Director of Public Prosecutions to issue an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
This request comes despite Putin‘s decision not to attend the BRICS summit scheduled for next month.
In a brief court proceeding at the North Gauteng High Court on Friday morning, the DA raised the issue of the government’s obligations to execute an arrest warrant for Putin as a signatory to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The DA’s objective was to avoid a repeat of the 2015 situation involving former Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir, whose arrest was not executed while attending a summit in South Africa.
The court acknowledged that the South African government had completed its consultations with the ICC, making it obligated to execute the arrest warrant for Putin, given that South Africa has been a signatory to the Rome Statute since 1998.
In light of the mutual agreement among all parties, the matter will not proceed any further, and an arrest warrant for Putin is expected to be issued.
The Russian President has already announced that he will not attend the BRICS summit, but the request for the warrant remains in effect.
DA leader John Steenhuisen expressed his belief that this situation could have been avoided had the South African government taken a clear stance on the Putin visit from the outset.
“We could have avoided this whole sorry saga had the South African government just taken an unequivocal line on the Putin visit right from the beginning,” Steenhuisen said.
As part of the resolution, the justice department will be responsible for covering the legal costs incurred by the DA in bringing this application to the court.
The decision reflects a significant development in South Africa’s commitment to the ICC and international justice.
