DA pushes ahead with Vladimir Putin matter

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has not put the Vladimir Putin matter to rest and will continue to seek clarity on government’s obligations on warrants of arrest issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

This despite President Cyril Ramaphosa confirming that Putin will not be attending the Brics summit in South Africa in August.

The Russian Federation will be represented by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

The confirmation of Putin not travelling to South Africa came as the DA was headed to court on Friday to compel the government to execute an arrest warrant for the Russian president

In Ramaphosa’s latest affidavit filed on Tuesday, he said the DA’s case was “moot” and must be withdrawn.

ALSO READ: Vladimir Putin will not be attending Brics summit in SA

Ramaphosa’s affidavit

However, DA leader John Steenhuisen is adamant that there are “aspects of Ramaphosa’s affidavit that need to be challenged”.

“We are continuing with our court case around the ICC and the arrest warrant matter as well as South Africa’s obligations.

“We believe that this is important because there are aspects of President Ramaphosa’s affidavit that needs to be challenged,” Steenhuisen said.

Steenhuisen added that they want the court to determine what he called “just and equitable relief”.

“This is in light of the president’s refusal to provide a clear answer on his duties, including issuing relief to correct his errors of law, and an appropriate order as to all the costs we had to incur.

“Finally, and most importantly, we would like to try to obtain a precedent so that we don’t have to go through the process again in future should there be another instance where an arrest warrant from the ICC has been issued and the person intends to visit South Africa whether it would be an Omar al Bashir, Vladimir Putin or any other person for which the warrant exists,” said Steenhuisen.

ALSO READ: ‘You can’t end a war by issuing a piece of paper’ – Expert weighs in on Ramaphosa’s confidential affidavit