The President of the Republic of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, said that the ruling party "African National Congress" decided on the withdrawal of South Africa from the International Criminal Court.
Al Jazeera writes about it.
Ramaphosa said the decision was made because of the courtʼs "unfair treatment of certain countries". For it to enter into force, it must be approved by the parliament, where the African National Congress has a majority.
In August of this year, the BRICS summit will be held in South Africa, to which Putin may come. Last month , the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Putin, so he should be arrested upon arrival.
Bloomberg reported in March that Putinʼs arrest warrant prompted South Africa to seek legal advice.
Two officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs then said that Putinʼs arrest was unlikely, despite the fact that South Africa had signed and ratified the Rome Statute and was therefore obliged to comply with the decision of the International Criminal Court. They say the countryʼs government is considering all options to avoid executing the warrant.
- In 2015, South Africa already refused to comply with the ICC warrant when Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir came to the country. After the criticism, the then leader of South Africa, Jacob Zuma, even offered to leave the ISS.
- In 2017, the Supreme Court of South Africa recognized the decision to withdraw from the International Criminal Court as unconstitutional and invalid. The court ruled in favor of the opposition Democratic Alliance party, which argued that the government should have first received parliamentary approval.