A government official said Wednesday that South Africa is considering an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest order for Russian President Vladimir Putin if he attends a BRICS conference in August.
As a member of the ICC, South Africa would be compelled to arrest Putin under the March warrant accusing him of forcibly deporting children from Russian-occupied Ukraine.
Russia disputes the charges.
However, South Africa had invited Putin to the Aug. 22-24 BRICS presidents’ meeting in Johannesburg on Jan. 25.
Zane Dangor, director-general of the Department of international relations, said, “There has been no firm decision,” adding that ministers designated to the topic would soon convene to review a report outlining the choices.
A senior government official, who spoke anonymously, said South African officials are considering asking the group’s former chair China to host the summit.
The Kremlin indicated on Tuesday that Russia would participate at the “proper level” when asked if Putin would attend.
In a May 25 interview with radio station 702, former President Thabo Mbeki, whose views on foreign relations influence government officials, indicated the summit was unlikely to occur in South Africa.
Mbeki remarked, “We have to arrest President Putin because of our legal obligations, but we can’t.”
On Tuesday, Obed Bapela, a deputy minister, told Britain’s BBC that South Africa was planning to enact legislation allowing Pretoria to arrest ICC-wanted politicians.
Bapela ignored requests for comment. However, an anonymous justice department official warned there wouldn’t be enough time to have such a measure enacted by parliament before the meeting.
South Africa granted diplomatic immunity to all leaders attending the meeting and a BRICS foreign ministers’ meeting in Cape Town on Monday. However, South Africa’s international relations department stated this was routine protocol for all international gatherings.
“These immunities do not override any warrant that may have been issued by any international tribunal against any attendee of the conference,” stated department spokesperson Clayson Monyela.
South Africa announced its decision to resign from the ICC after protests over its refusal to arrest Sudan’s former president Omar al-Bashir, wanted on genocide charges, at an African Union conference in Johannesburg in 2015.
In December, the African National Congress resolved that South Africa should abandon the process and try to alter the ICC from the inside.
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