“South Africa May Arrest Vladimir Putin During BRICS Summit: International Criminal Court Issues Arrest Warrant”

South Africa does not want Vladimir Putin (70) to a summit this summer – for fear that they will have to arrest him. One of Russia’s best-known political scientists does not believe that the president will be arrested – but that Putin will nevertheless drop the trip.

• BRICS is an abbreviation for the organization with Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa as members.
• In August 2023, the leaders of these countries will meet for a summit.
• An arrest warrant for Putin has come from it the international criminal courtthe international criminal courtThe International Criminal Court, ICC, is the world’s first permanent, international court for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide (snl.no)..
• It could force South Africa to arrest Putin – if he gets there.

It is Sunday Times who writes that South Africa has concluded that the country has no choice but to arrest Putin if he sets foot on South African soil. The newspaper refers to sources in the country’s government.

After South Africa has ratified ratifiedThat a state undertakes to follow, and thereby becomes a party to, an international (intergovernmental) agreement. (snl.no). the document governing the International Criminal Court, they are obliged to follow its decisions, including arresting suspected war criminals.

– Legally, the South African authorities have no choice: If they do not arrest Putin, they are not only breaking international law, but also the laws of South Africa, says Priyal Singh, researcher at South Africa’s Institute for Security Studies, reports Moscow Times.

But one of Russia’s most prominent political scientists, Sergej Markov, does not believe that Putin has set his sights on South Africa anyway.

– Putin is not going to the summit in South Africa, he writes on his Telegram channel, reproduced by Pravda.

At the same time, he believes that Putin would not have risked being arrested if he left:

– There is no such threat at all, assures Markov.

He believes the Russian president will not fly to South Africa, because he fears a terrorist attack from the United States and Great Britain.

– Putin flies abroad only over the territories of friendly countries, writes Sergej Markov.

The president’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, has confirmed that Putin will attend the summit, but has not said whether it will happen physically or digitally.

– We want to clarify what the South Africans think about this, Peskov said according to the report Moscow Times.