The ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC), in the Republic of South Africa (South Africa), has decided to remove the country from the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. This was announced by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, transmits South African edition of TimesLIVE.
“The ruling ANC party has decided that it would be wise for South Africa to withdraw from the ICC,” Ramaphosa said. As the reason for this decision, he cited the “unfair treatment” of certain countries by the Court.
On March 17, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin on suspicion of illegally deporting children from Ukraine. According to TimesLIVE, this could cause South Africa to decide to opt out of the tribunal’s jurisdiction. If South Africa is a member of the ICC, then should Putin visit the country, the authorities are bound to act in accordance with that mandate.
South Africa’s Roving Ambassador to Asia and BRICS countries Anil Suklal said earlier that Putin will attend the BRICS summit to be held in the country from August 22-24. ANC National Executive Committee member Obed Bapela stressed that no sitting head of state would be arrested in South Africa.
“It is highly unlikely that South Africa will arrest its ally’s leader,” TimesLIVE notes.
The publication recalls that in 2015, South African authorities failed to execute the arrest warrant issued by the ICC against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. After that, as Remarks Africanews.com, South Africa has already attempted to exit the jurisdiction of the ICC. However, the country’s judiciary blocked this decision, considering it unconstitutional.
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