DA’s John Steenhuisen says Ramaphosa’s affidavit on Putin arrest warrant is farcical
Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen said that President Cyril Ramaphosa’s affidavit on the execution of an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin was farcical.
He added that Ramaphosa’s claim that the government feared a declaration of war if Putin was arrested while attending the BRICS summit next month was flimsy.
The Presidency has welcomed Tuesday’s North Gauteng High Court order compelling Ramaphosa to make his affidavit public.
It said that Ramaphosa was never against this but only sought to comply with confidentiality directives of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
In his previously confidential affidavit, President Ramaphosa said that the DA was behaving in an irresponsible manner by insisting on this case, given Russia’s threat of nuclear war if its president was arrested.
Ramaphosa also said the application was premature, since Putin may never set foot in South Africa.
But Steenhuisen said that Ramaphosa was making “straw man” arguments.
“What is comical about the president’s affidavit is his claim that refusing to arrest Vladimir Putin would disregard the sovereignty of the Russian Federation, when his own government, in support for Russia, has shown very little concern for the sovereignty of the Ukrainian state.”
Ramaphosa said that the government had approached the ICC to raise its concerns about executing an arrest warrant for Putin.
The matter will be heard in an open court on Friday.
-EWN
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