The South African president called Putinʼs arrest at the BRICS summit a declaration of war against Russia

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has told the Gauteng High Court that the arrest of Russian President Vladimir Putin at the BRICS summit in August would be a declaration of war against Russia.

News24 writes about it.

"It would be a reckless, unconstitutional and unlawful exercise of the powers conferred upon the government to declare war with Russia by arresting President Putin," Ramaphosa said in an affidavit.

"It would be inconsistent with our Constitution to risk engaging in war with Russia. I have constitutional obligations to protect the national sovereignty, peace and security of the republic, and to respect, protect, promote and fulfil the rights of the people of the republic to life, safety and security, among other rights in the Bill of Rights,” the South African president added.

Ramaphosa did not want the public to know about the statement. However, on July 18, the court disagreed with the presidentʼs claims that his testimony should be kept secret "for the sake of the confidentiality of interaction with the International Criminal Court regarding Putinʼs arrest."

The High Court of South Africa made this decision in response to the request of the prosecutorʼs office to take all necessary measures to arrest Putin and transfer him to the International Criminal Court.

• On March 17, 2023, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, and Maria Lvova-Belova, the Russian Presidentʼs Commissioner for Childrenʼs Rights. They are accused of directing the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia, which is a war crime. Children were taken out without the permission of relatives and Ukraine, in Russia they were granted citizenship. For this purpose, Putin passed a number of decrees that simplified these procedures, and Lviva-Belova carried out his orders. Together with their parents, up to 150,000 children could be deported to Russia (just over 300 were returned). For the fifth time in its history, the International Court of Justice issues a warrant for the arrest of a sitting president. He can be arrested by a country that has ratified the Rome Statute.
• South Africa is a signatory to the Rome Statute. In view of this, she is forced to arrest Putin. The authorities of South Africa have assured that they will comply with the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. However, it has already violated its agreement with the Rome Statute when it did not arrest the former president of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir, who was charged with genocide and crimes against humanity.
• The media reported that South Africa is considering moving the BRICS summit to China to avoid Putinʼs arrest. On May 30, it became known that the South African Republic announced that it would grant diplomatic immunity to the participants of two meetings during the BRICS summit, but these immunities do not cancel any warrants from international tribunals.
• South African President Cyril Ramaphosa asked Russia to send Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to the BRICS summit in August instead of Putin but was refused.