“South Africa trying to persuade Putin not to attend BRICS summit due to ICC arrest warrant”

CNN Indonesia

Tuesday, 02 May 2023 21:01 WIB

Jakarta, CNNIndonesia —

Authority south Africa said to be trying hard to persuade Russian President Vladimir Putin not to come to the high-level conference (Summit) of the bloc of countries Brazil, Russia, India, Chinaand South Africa (BRICS) in August.

The Kremlin immediately opened its voice in response to the confusion over whether Putin was coming to the BRICS Summit or not in South Africa.

The ICC in March issued a warrant for Putin’s arrest. He is considered to have committed a war crime for deporting Ukrainian children to Moscow in connection with Moscow’s military aggression in Ukraine.

South Africa as a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC) must comply with the international court’s order to arrest Putin.

When asked at a press conference by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov whether Putin would come to the BRICS summit or not, he replied “A proper decision will be made as the time draws nearer.”

“But in certain cases, Russia will actively take part (at the conference) of important associations,” Peskov said as quoted by Reuters.

The Sunday Times South Africa reports that the country’s authorities are reportedly trying hard to convince Putin not to come to Gauteng, South Africa, as quoted from The Moscow Times.

South Africa has no choice but to arrest Putin if Russia’s number one comes to the ICC member country.

The most reasonable option is to persuade Putin not to come to the BRICS summit. However, the effort was said to be not easy because Putin reportedly insisted on coming.

One of the South African officials who did not want to be identified said that their country’s authorities continued to coordinate to ensure that Putin did not come.

Earlier, the leader of the opposition Democratic Alliance Party of South Africa, Alan Winde confirmed that Putin would be detained in accordance with an arrest warrant released by the International Criminal Court (ICC) last month.

“Putin has consistently and violently undermined the liberties of the Ukrainian people and those who in his own country oppose his brutal acts [Putin],” Wine said, as quoted by Anadolu news agency, last week.

This threat came out when Putin is scheduled to attend the BRICS summit in the Western Cape Province in South Africa in August.

(bac)