President Cyril Ramaphosa says that Russia has made it clear that arresting Russian President Vladimir Putin would be a “declaration of war”.
This is revealed in Ramaphosa’s “confidential answering affidavit” which was made public following an order of the High Court in Pretoria on Tuesday.
The DA is taking the South African government to court seeking an order to compel the arrest of Putin in South Africa, should he come to South Africa for the BRICS summit next month.
This comes after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against Putin for alleged war crimes.
In his affidavit, President Ramaphosa states that South Africa has obvious problems with executing the arrest and surrender of President Putin. Ramaphosa says that it would be inconsistent with the Constitution to risk engaging in war with Russia.
He adds that he has constitutional obligations to protect the national sovereignty, peace and security of the republic as well as to respect, protect and promote the rights of the people of the Republic.
VIDEO | Putin’s expected announcement on BRICS participation: Andrey Klimov
Ramaphosa says he will comply with the Gauteng High Court’s decision compelling him to make public the confidential affidavit relating to an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“That’s what the court has ruled so that’s fine and the hearing is going to be on Friday and that too is fine so all these things are in process. We are handling all these things from a diplomatic point of view but we will comply with the court so all that will be put forward.” Additional Reporting Ntebo Mokobo
Court’s ruling on President Ramaphosa’s affidavit arresting Putin: Canny Maphanga:
