South Africa grants immunity to BRICS summit participants, amid possible visit by Russia’s Putin

The New Voice of Ukraine
·2 min read
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Presumably, South African authorities are not going to arrest Putin if he comes to the BRICS summit in August
Presumably, South African authorities are not going to arrest Putin if he comes to the BRICS summit in August
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According to a government bulletin, the decision regarding immunity applies to the meeting of foreign ministers from the BRICS bloc, which comprises Brazil, Russia, China, South Africa, and India. This meeting is scheduled to take place in Cape Town on June 1-2.

Read also: South Africa warns Putin of threat of arrest should he attend BRICS Summit in person

The immunity will also be in effect during the BRICS heads of state summit, set to be held from Aug. 22-24.

The Department of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa has clarified that granting immunity is a standard practice for all international conferences and summits held in the country, regardless of the level of participation, as reported by Bloomberg.

Read also: South Africa accused of supplying weapons to Russia

“The immunities are for the conference and not for specific individuals. They are meant to protect the conference and its attendees from the jurisdiction of the host country for the duration of the conference,” the department said.

However, “these immunities do not override any warrant that may have been issued by any international tribunal against any attendee of the conference,” they added.

South Africa has extended an invitation to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin to participate in the BRICS summit in August. However, on March 17, the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued an arrest warrant against him on suspicion of deporting Ukrainian children to Russia and committing war crimes in Ukraine.

The head of the Kremlin regime could potentially face arrest in 123 countries that have ratified the Rome Statute, including South Africa.

Read also: South African president wants to visit Ukraine with “peace initiative”

According to media reports, the South African government is trying to persuade the Kremlin to cancel Putin’s planned visit to the country for the BRICS summit this summer, citing the arrest warrant.

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