DA seeks court bid due to lack of clarity on ICC warrant against Putin

The Democratic Alliance (DA) says a lack of clarity on the government’s intention regarding the International Criminal Court (ICC)’s warrant of arrest against Russian President Vladimir Putin, has led to its court bid.

The party has filed an application in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria to compel South Africa to arrest Putin when he arrives in the country to attend the BRICS Summit in August.

The DA’s Shadow Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, Advocate Glynnis Breytenbach says the aim of their court application is to prevent a repeat of 2015 Omar al-Bashir scenario.

“The government failed to comply with its international and domestic obligations, the court order came, just as he was being assisted to leave the country. So, in order to prevent that kind of scenario from happening again, and because we’ve asked the government for assurances that if Putin does come to South Africa, they will comply with their obligations.”

“We’ve had no definitive answers from them, we decided to approach the court for declaratory. So, that there’s legal certainty which is everyone’s position that, there would be an order in place that compels the government,” adds Breytenbach.

The video below is the full interview with Glynnis Breytenbach: