Ukrainian rights activist calls for SA not to allow Putin to attend BRICS

A Ukrainian Nobel Peace Prize winner has called on South Africa not to allow Russian President Vladimir Putin to attend a Brics summit in the country in August.

Oleksandra Romantsova – the head of an NGO that became the winner of Ukraine’s first peace prize last year – urged the South African government on Wednesday to “show us that they care”.

Warrant

The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against Putin in March, meaning Pretoria, due to host the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa bloc summit, would have to detain him.

“For us, South Africa is a place where people are fighting for freedom, for equality for dignity,” Romantsova, who was in the country to garner support for Ukraine, told a media briefing in Johannesburg.

If Putin were to come here and not be arrested, it would “be a great disappointment” she said.

The ICC warrant against Putin stems from accusations that Russia unlawfully deported Ukrainian children.

READ MORE: No chance of SA arresting Putin when he visits

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Romantsova, the executive director of the Kyiv-based Centre for Civil Liberties (CCL), suggested that the Russian president could attend the Brics summit via Zoom – or send a minister who is not wanted by the ICC. The NGO – which has run successful campaigns for political prisoners, tracked enforced disappearances, and highlighted Russian war crimes – shared the peace prize with Belarusian and Russian co-winners last year.

A continental powerhouse, South Africa has refused to condemn the invasion of Ukraine, which has largely isolated Moscow on the international stage, saying it wants to stay neutral and prefers dialogue to end the war.

This year, South Africa held a controversial joint military exercise with Russia and China, which critics cite as evidence of a tilt towards the Kremlin.

Cold shoulder

Romantsova, who came to South Africa as part of a delegation comprising academics and nonprofit organisations, met senior officials at the department of international relations and cooperation.

But she was given the cold shoulder by the ruling ANC.

“We are trying to meet [the ANC] and for me it’s surprising that it’s so difficult to organise such a meeting,” said Olexiy Haran, another member of the delegation and a politics professor at National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.

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