The South African government stated on July 21 that it failed to fulfill its international obligations by refusing to immediately issue a warrant for the arrest of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin in the event of his entry into the country, journalists from European Pravda reported.
South Africa's Justice Department received documents about the warrant of the International Criminal Court back in May. Instead of immediately sending the arrest warrant to the country's National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP), the government decided to initiate a consultation process with the court in The Hague.
The Gauteng High Court in Pretoria confirmed on Friday that the department had finally sent the warrant.
Next month, the African country will host a summit of BRICS countries. South African and Russian officials had previously stated that Putin would be permitted to attend the summit despite the ICC warrant and South Africa's participation in the International Criminal Court.
South Africa's presidential office announced on July 19 that Vladimir Putin will not be attending attend the upcoming BRICS summit and Russia will instead represented by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
In March of this year, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova the Russian official allegedly overseeing the forced deportations of Ukrainian children to Russia.
Over 19,500 Ukrainian children have been forcibly deported to Russia since February 2022.
Alexander Query
(Updated: )
