Customize Consent Preferences

We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.

The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ... 

Always Active

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

No cookies to display.

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

No cookies to display.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

No cookies to display.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

No cookies to display.

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

No cookies to display.

FeaturedWorld

Arresting Vladimir Putin in South Africa would be ‘declaration of war’, says Ramaphosa

Any attempt to arrest Vladimir Putin if he visits South Africa would be a declaration of war against Russia, the country’s president says.

Cyril Ramaphosa made the warning with weeks to go before an international meeting happens in Johannesburg, to which the Russian president is invited.

But if Mr Putin leaves Russian soil, he will be subject to an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant.

South Africa is an ICC signatory and should therefore help in his arrest.

Yet it has refused to honour that obligation in the past – allowing safe passage in 2015 to Sudan’s then-President Omar al-Bashir who was wanted for war crimes against his own people.

Mr Putin has been invited to South Africa in August, when the country hosts a summit for members of the Brics countries – an acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. This bloc of fast-growing economies is seen by some as an alternative to the G7 group of advanced economies.

South Africa’s biggest opposition party, Democratic Alliance, has gone to court to try to force the authorities to carry out an arrest on Mr Putin should he set foot in the country.

Court documents reveal that President Ramaphosa is firmly against any such move, stating that national security is at stake.

“South Africa has obvious problems with executing a request to arrest and surrender President Putin,” he said in an affidavit.

“Russia has made it clear that arresting its sitting president would be a declaration of war. It would be inconsistent with our constitution to risk engaging in war with Russia.”

President Ramaphosa added that South Africa is one of several African nations holding talks with Russia and Ukraine “with a view of ending the war altogether”, and that attempting to arrest Mr Putin would be counter-productive.

Last month saw a peace mission to the European nations, where African presidents hoped they could bring Ukraine and Russia to the table together but ultimately failed.

Much has been made of African nations’ reluctance to back UN general assembly resolutions condemning Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Correspondents say the reasons range depending on the nation – be it South Africa’s anti-apartheid ties to the Soviet Union, or Mali’s present-day reliance on Russian Wagner mercenaries to fight jihadists.

There are economic ties between Russia and African nations too, not least in South Africa.

A sanctioned Russian oligarch, Viktor Vekselberg, is said to be one of the biggest donors to South Africa’s governing party – the African National Congress (ANC).

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Back to top button
WP2Social Auto Publish Powered By : XYZScripts.com