Malema slams SA’s move to arrest Putin as unfair and cowardly

Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema says it is unfair and humiliating for South Africa to announce that they would arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin if he was to set foot in South Africa for the Brics summit next month.

Malema was speaking to the media at the party’s diplomatic breakfast at the Sheraton Hotel in Pretoria yesterday.

Last week, in a brief hearing in the High Court in Pretoria, the government was forced to commit to arresting Putin.

According to an affidavit filed by department of justice and constitutional development director-general advocate Doc Mashabane, the department formally requested the National Director of Public Prosecutions to issue a warrant of arrest for Putin.

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This was after the Democratic Alliance went to court to force the government to commit to its obligations, under the Rome Statute, to execute an arrest warrant for Putin issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Malema accused the government of failing to assure Putin that he would not be arrested if he came to South Africa.

“President Putin has decided not to come because of the cowardice of the South African government, which did not guarantee that it will not arrest him and we called for heads of Brics to stay away in solidarity with President Putin,” he said.

“Today it’s President Putin, tomorrow it will be the Chinese president, then the Indian president or even the Brazilian president. They must send their ministers. The establishment of Brics was to create an alternative platform to avoid this type of nonsensical type of arrangement.

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“Russia is not a signatory to the ICC and South Africa wants to arrest people who are not a signatory to the ICC.

“This warrant of arrest is not sanctioned by the Security Council, why should we want to consider such a warrant of arrest which is far-fetched?”

Malema also continued to lash out at EFF members who failed to organise transport for EFF representatives to attend their 10th anniversary celebrations at FNB stadium today.