War in Ukraine: Why Vladimir Putin is under threat of arrest in South Africa

This is the conundrum that has gripped South Africa for months. With the approach of the BRICS summit, an event that will bring together representatives of Brazil, India, China and Russia, to be held in Johannesburg between August 22 and 24, South African authorities have long considered arresting Vladimir Putin. Under an international arrest warrant, the Kremlin master is in the crosshairs of South Africa, a member of the International Criminal Court, which is theoretically supposed to arrest the Russian president if he enters its territory. Vladimir Putin has been accused of war crimes for deporting Ukrainian children after the invasion of Ukraine.

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This week, South Africa decided. A Justice Ministry document released by the Democratic Alliance indicates that South African authorities will arrest Vladimir Putin if he visits Johannesburg at the end of next August. A number of legal actions have been initiated by the Democratic Alliance and human rights organization Amnesty International in this regard. In the words of Shenila Mohamed, director of Amnesty International’s South African branch, the document released by the South African Ministry of Justice is “a victory for the rule of law and international justice, but certainly for the Ukrainian victims”.

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In this case, Vladimir Putin has said that he will not go to the BRICS conference, but will participate remotely through video conference. South Africa greeted the news with “relief”, preferring above all to avoid a diplomatic crisis. Earlier, Russian authorities had indicated that the arrest of Vladimir Putin was tantamount to a “declaration of war”. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has been skeptical for months about the possibility of arresting the Russian head of state.