The South African government has agreed to execute Russian President Vladimir Putin’s arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) if he ever enters the country.
On Friday, the DA went to the Gauteng High Court to force the government to commit to arresting Putin.
The Department of Justice also agreed to pay the legal fees associated with the DA’s initial request that the government arrest Putin if he attends the BRICS summit in Johannesburg next month.
This week, the government announced that Putin would not physically travel to South Africa but would instead participate in the summit virtually.
Putin will not be attending BRICS summit in SA ‘by mutual agreement
The 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.
