South Africa Grants Putin Diplomatic Immunity for Upcoming BRICS Summit

Ahead of the BRICS foreign ministers’ meeting and summit, the South African government has granted diplomatic immunity to all participating officials, including Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Putin’s immunity ahead of the BRICS summit in August is crucial in response to the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrant against the Russian leader for alleged war crimes in Ukraine.

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The global court issued a warrant against Putin in March, marking the first such warrant for a leader among the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. Moscow has denied the accusations of war crimes.

Putin is scheduled to attend the BRICS summit in South Africa, which includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. However, due to South Africa’s membership in the ICC, there is a requirement to detain him if he visits.

Following the issuance of the ICC warrant, Putin has refrained from traveling abroad, except for a trip to Iran after the onset of the Ukraine conflict last year.

On Monday, the South African government published a notice in the gazette, reported by the South African publication Daily Maverick, regarding the Diplomatic Immunity and Privileges Act being granted to all international officials attending BRICS-related events in the country.

A spokesperson for South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) stated that Pandor’s notice was considered routine and that similar notices were issued for international meetings in South Africa.

There are two upcoming events related to the BRICS group. The first is the BRICS Ministerial Meeting scheduled for June 1 and 2 in Cape Town.

The second event is the 15th BRICS Summit set to take place in Johannesburg from August 22 to 24. This latter event has generated controversy in South Africa due to the expected attendance of Putin.

Although the Hague-based ICC issued the warrant in March, it lacks its own police force to enforce its orders and relies on the police forces of other countries to arrest the indicted individuals.

This poses challenges to executing arrests based on ICC indictments.

One obstacle to Putin’s arrest is that neither Russia nor the United States is a member of the court. As long as Putin avoids visiting countries that are ICC members, he remains immune from arrest.

(With agency inputs)