The president of South Africa, Mr. Cyril Ramaphosa yesterday announced that the African National Congress (ANC) had decided to pull the country out of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which last month issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The ICC arrest warrant meant that Pretoria, which is to host the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa bloc summit this year, would have to detain Putin on arrival.
“Yes, the governing party African National Congress (ANC) has taken that decision that it is prudent that South Africa should pull out of the ICC,” he said at joint media conference with the visiting President Sauli Niinisto of Finland.
According to Reuters, Ramaphosa said his country’s governing ANC “has taken that decision that it is prudent that South Africa should pull out of the ICC.”
“There has also been commentary I believe from Amnesty International where there has been reflection on what many people believe is an unfair treatment and our view is that we will like this matter of unfair treatment to be properly discussed but in the meantime, the governing party has decided once again that there should be a pull out,” he added.
Hague investigators worked on evidence against Putin for over a year before the ICC issued an arrest warrant in March that accused the Russian leader of being “allegedly responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of population (children) and that of unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation.”
Though the South African leader did not say the decision about the ICC was based on Putin’s warrant, he indicated that the ANC’s stance was “largely” due to how the ICC treats certain countries.
“We would like this matter of unfair treatment to be properly discussed, but in the meantime, the governing party has decided once again that there should be a pull-out,” he added.
South Africa has maintained a neutral stance on the Ukraine war, but the country’s international relations and cooperation minister, Naledi Pandor, said last month that his government had sought legal advice regarding the ICC warrant should Putin visit.
The possibility of a Putin visit could come as early as this summer, as the Russian president is invited to the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit, which South Africa is hosting in August.
As long as South Africa remains in the ICC, the country is obliged to arrest him and turn him over to The Hague should he enter its territory.
Currently, it is unclear if Putin will attend the BRICS conference.
Anil Sooklal, a South African official for the summit, told Reuters that Putin “has been invited by President Ramaphosa, and Russia has indicated attendance.”
With Newsweek 90, Premium Times reports
