South Africa is set to host the 2023 edition of BRICS summit in August next month. But the key geopolitical gathering is already in the news. Reason? Russian President Vladimir Putin’s participation in the Johannesburg event in face of the ICC’s arrest warrant against him. South Africa, the BRICS 2023 host, is a member of the International Criminal Court. Hence, Johannesburg is obliged to arrest Putin. However, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has submitted a plea in a local court to exempt his government from executing the ICC warrant.
According to a Reuters report, Ramaphosa has said that arresting Putin would mean ‘declaration of war’. He has also slammed the pro-West plot against BRICS. The five-member international group consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
On March 17 earlier this year, the International Criminal Court had issued an arrest warrant against Putin for alleged war crimes in Ukraine that also include illegally deporting Ukrainian children across the border.
So far, Russia has not reacted to these reports. In his legal reply to a case that was filed by South Africa’s Opposition party – Democratic Alliance – Ramaphosa said that ICC must exempt South Africa. The case by the Opposition seeks to compel the authorities to arrest Putin as and when he sets foot on the South African soil.
A Reuters report said that the South African President submitted the response in June, which has been made public now. Ramaphosa has already filed an appeal with the ICC under Article 97, which allows the member states to not carry out the alert in wake of problems that may follow after initiating such an action.
In his affidavit, the South African President also added Russia’s well-known stand – Arresting sitting President tantamount to war. The Reuters report also said that though no BRICS member has made a public comment, there are talks around shifting the venue to China, which is not a signatory of the International Criminal Court.