The Democratic Alliance leader, John Steenhuisen, says Russian President, Vladimir Putin, should be arrested if he comes to South Africa

DA WANTS ANC TO ARREST PUTIN. (Read More Here).

The Democratic Alliance leader John Steenhuisen says Russian President Vladimir Putin should be arrested if he comes to South Africa. This must be done by the ruling party ANC.

The Democratic Alliance’s (DA) John Steenhuisen says Russian President Vladimir Putin should be arrested if he comes to South Africa.

Steenhuisen says the country has a legal obligation to execute the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Putin.

This is for alleged war crimes related to the abduction of children from Ukraine.

The South African government is taking legal advice on how to handle the arrest warrant in the event the Russian leader attends a Brics summit in August.

The Kremlin has yet to decide on whether Putin will travel for the summit. “I think that any responsible president would advise Putin given the ICC arrest warrant that he should perhaps not come,” says Steenhuisen.

“But if he does come, I think SA is obliged if it’s for the rule of law and (if you) govern according to the constitutional principles you would be obliged to execute that arrest warrant. If he is here we have the legal obligation. The principle of the rule of law means that the equality before the law and SA is oblige to execute that. We have not left the ICC. We’ve remained signatories. Putin must be arrested,” he adds.

The DA calls on President Cyril Ramaphosa to prioritise the country’s reputation and well-being over that of Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and ensure that he is not among the leaders set to attend the BRICS summit in South Africa in August.

The ICC’s issuing of a warrant for Putin’s arrest for alleged war crimes should serve as a final warning to the ANC that while the governing party might make light of the invasion of a neighbouring country, the international community does not.

Putin and the Russian Commissioner for Children’s Rights, Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, are being accused of unlawfully deporting children and people from Ukraine to Russia.

President Ramaphosa’s attempt to evade DA Leader John Steenhuisen’s question regarding the attendees of the BRICS summit, shows that his admiration for Putin is blinding him to the strain Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has placed on South African citizens.

If President Ramaphosa insists on placing his friendship with a wanted war-criminal over the well-being of his people, we call on him to ensure the meeting takes place on neutral ground and that peace and Russia’s immediate withdrawal from Ukraine be prioritised.

This would be the most productive and effective use of BRICS resources and energy to ensure a recovery of the global economy.

South Africa is already seen as weak, inactive and rudderless – we do not need to add sympathiser of war-criminals to the list.