DA welcomes High Court Ruling on Transparency regarding SA’s obligation to arrest Putin

Johnathan Paoli

THE DA has welcomed a Gauteng High Court ruling on Tuesday that the government must make public the “confidential affidavit” of President Cyril Ramaphosa in the DA’s Russian President Vladimir Putin arrest warrant matter.

More specifically the court held that the government, in accordance with the Rome Statute, must publicly and transparently argue its case around South Africa’s obligation to arrest Putin, following the issuing of an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The court held that Ramaphosa has until 14:00 to upload the affidavit onto the court’s digital system and further held that the matter will be heard in an open court on Friday and that media will be allowed access.

Previously, Ramaphosa had argued it was precisely the Rome Statute which prohibited details pertaining to an arrest warrant being shared. In addition, Ramaphosa said the government had “obvious problems” with executing such a warrant