Cape Town – President Cyril Ramaphosa has submitted a confidential answering affidavit in response to a case brought by the DA asking the court to declare that SA has a duty to arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin if he comes to SA to attend the Brics summit in August.
The DA had requested the Gauteng High Court to issue an order for the arrest and surrender of Putin to the International Criminal Court (ICC) if he attends the Brics summit.
The government missed the deadline to respond to the case but requested a three-day extension.
The ICC had issued an arrest warrant against Putin in March, accusing him of war crimes related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. South Africa, as an ICC signatory, is obligated to arrest Putin if he attends the summit.
According to News24, Presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said the confidentiality of the president’s affidavit was in line with requirements by the ICC.
“The respondents are obliged in terms of international law to keep the interactions with the ICC on the warrant of arrest against President Putin confidential. The ICC requires the fact of the request for cooperation to be kept confidential. To date, there has been no relaxation of the requirement of confidentiality by the ICC,” the report quoted Magwenya as saying.
But the DA leader criticised the confidentiality of Ramaphosa’s affidavit, stating that portions of it should be made public, the report said.
The DA plans to argue in court against the majority of the affidavit remaining confidential.
Meanwhile, according to Mail & Guadian, the department of justice has confirmed that South Africa has, like all ICC member states, received a formal request asking that Putin be arrested to face prosecution if he were to come into the country.
“It was sent on a confidential basis,” the report quoted Chrispin Phiri, the spokesperson for Justice Minister Ronald Lamola, as saying.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
