Financial news

South Africa opposition party calls for arrest of Putin during upcoming BRICS conference – JURIST

South African opposition party the Democratic Alliance (DA) called Tuesday for the arrest of Russian President Vladimir Putin should he enter the country for the upcoming BRICS Conference. Since March, the International Criminal Court (ICC) has had an outstanding warrant for Putin’s arrest, which the DA now seeks to enforce.The DA filed an application with the Gauteng High Court requesting a declaratory order that would allow the country to arrest Putin under the outstanding ICC arrest warrant. The DA went on to state:This pre-emptory court action aims to ensure that South Africa upholds its obligations in terms of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, and the Implementation of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court Act 27 of 2002 (Implementation Act).The DA cited the need to avoid repetition of the case of former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who was allowed to leave the country in 2015 despite being wanted by the ICC for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. The ICC ruled that South Africa should have turned al-Bashir over to the ICC for prosecution.South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation was unclear as to whether Putin might have diplomatic immunity during the conference, stating:The immunities are for the conference and not for specific individuals. They are meant to protect the conference and its attendees from the jurisdiction of the host country for the duration of the conference. These immunities do not override any warrant that may have been issued by any international tribunal against any attendee of the conference.Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that Russia will still participate in the BRICS conference, but would not say whether Putin himself would attend. Peskov said, “Russia attaches great importance to the development of this format of integration. And Russia will take part in this summit at the proper level.”South Africa is still a signatory to the ICC and the Rome Statute, despite threats to leave the ICC after receiving condemnation for failing to arrest al-Bashir in 2015.