BRICS Summit: Use Zoom Or We’ll Arrest You – South Africa Warns Putin

Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, will be detained if he attends the future BRICS meeting in August 2023, according to the government of South Africa.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest order for Putin in March on suspicion of war crimes, and President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa is under pressure to carry it out.

“Arresting Putin is our only option. According to the Heritage Times, a South African government official remarked, “If he comes here, we will have to arrest him.

Instead, the African power has pleaded with the ICC-designated wanted Russian leader to use Zoom to attend the bloc summit.

South Africa is required to turn over Putin to investigators as an ICC member.

According to the Heritage Times, Ramaphosa formed a special government committee last week to investigate Vladimir Putin’s international arrest warrant. The body is led by the nation’s deputy president.

There won’t be “any options that would allow Putin to come,” according to the committee. The only choice we have is for [Putin] to join the meeting remotely from Moscow using Teams or Zoom.

Ramaphosa had said that Pretoria was considering leaving the ICC, but last week, the South African Presidency formally said that the government has no plans to leave the Rome Statute.

Putin’s attendance at the meeting in August has not yet been determined, according to the Kremlin. On March 17, the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued arrest warrants for Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, the Russian Children’s Ombudsperson.

Since February 24, 2022, they are alleged to have illegally deported children from Ukraine to Russia.

Putin may be detained in any of the 123 nations that have ratified the Rome Statute, which includes South Africa.

Brazil, South Africa, Russia, India, China, and the bloc are all members.