News / National
Ramaphosa agrees he will arrest Putin if he ever sets foot in SA
21 Jul 2023 at 11:40hrs | Views
The Cyril Ramaphosa led South African government has agreed to execute the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin if he ever sets foot in the country.
The DA went to the Gauteng High Court on Friday to force government to commit to arresting Putin.
The Department of Justice further agreed to pay the costs of the legal application, which was initially launched by the DA to compel government to arrest Putin if he were to attend the BRICS summit in Johannesburg next month.
Government announced this week that Putin would not physically travel to South Africa and would participate in the summit virtually.
The SA Presidency announced on Wednesday that Russian president Vladimir Putin will not be attending the BRICS summit in South Africa next month.
"By mutual agreement, President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation will not attend the summit but the Russian Federation will be represented by Foreign Minister Mr Sergey Lavrov," reads the Presidency's statement.
The International Criminal Court issued a warrant of arrest for Putin for alleged war crimes in his invasion of Ukraine, and by law, South Africa would have had to arrest him if he entered the country.
The DA went to the Gauteng High Court on Friday to force government to commit to arresting Putin.
The Department of Justice further agreed to pay the costs of the legal application, which was initially launched by the DA to compel government to arrest Putin if he were to attend the BRICS summit in Johannesburg next month.
Government announced this week that Putin would not physically travel to South Africa and would participate in the summit virtually.
The SA Presidency announced on Wednesday that Russian president Vladimir Putin will not be attending the BRICS summit in South Africa next month.
"By mutual agreement, President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation will not attend the summit but the Russian Federation will be represented by Foreign Minister Mr Sergey Lavrov," reads the Presidency's statement.
The International Criminal Court issued a warrant of arrest for Putin for alleged war crimes in his invasion of Ukraine, and by law, South Africa would have had to arrest him if he entered the country.
Source - news24
