South Africa plans law change over Putin ICC arrest warrant

South Africa plans to alteration its instrumentality truthful that it has the powerfulness to determine whether oregon not to apprehension a person wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), a lawman curate has told the BBC.

Obed Bapela's remarks travel amid aggravated speculation implicit whether South Africa stands by its invitation to Russia's President Putin to sojourn successful August.

The ICC has issued an apprehension warrant for Mr Putin implicit the Ukraine war.

South Africa had earlier invited him to be a acme of Brics leaders.

Russia has not said whether Mr Putin plans to be the summit.

Meanwhile Pretoria has besides granted diplomatic immunity to Russian officials attending, thing that its overseas affairs section described arsenic modular procedure.

Brics is intended to fortify ties betwixt the nations that marque it up - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

"In June we'll beryllium submitting the instrumentality successful parliament," Obed Bapela, a lawman curate successful the South African presidency, told the BBC World Service's Newshour programme.

Through the law, South Africa "will springiness itself exemptions of who to apprehension and who not to arrest," Mr Bapela said.

Under its existent laws, South Africa is obliged to apprehension Mr Putin if helium arrives connected its shores, arsenic it is simply a subordinate of the ICC.

But South Africa has refused to condemn Russia's penetration of Ukraine, insisting it wants to stay neutral.

South Africa's main absorption party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), has launched a tribunal exertion to compel the authorities to apprehension Mr Putin should helium get successful August.

Mr Bapela said that South Africa was besides penning to the ICC astir a waiver.

This refers to nonfiction 98 of the Rome Statue, the pact which established the tribunal successful 2002.

While nonfiction 27 says no-one is immune from prosecution by the ICC, nonfiction 98 appears to suggest that the ICC could not inquire South Africa to apprehension the Russian person unless Russia agreed to waive Mr Putin's immunity from prosecution.

The lawman curate besides lashed retired astatine the ICC for its "double standards", saying the precocious Nelson Mandela, South Africa's archetypal democratically elected president, would person been disappointed by the warfare crimes court.

"We ne'er thought that the ICC that we person contiguous volition beryllium what it is. They ne'er indicted Tony Blair, they ne'er indicted [George W] Bush for their killings of Iraq people," helium said, referring to the erstwhile UK and US leaders and their penetration of Iraq successful 2003.

"Mandela would person said [that] the inequality, the inconsistency by the ICC, is simply a problem."

Mr Bapela besides pointed to past examples of exemptions of planetary justice, similar the UK's determination not to extradite General Augusto Pinochet successful 1998.

The erstwhile Chilean dictator was arrested successful London astatine the petition of a Spanish justice seeking to enactment him connected proceedings for quality rights abuses during his 17-year rule, but the UK authorities freed him aft 16 months connected the proposal of aesculapian experts who said helium was unfit to basal trial. He died backmost location successful 2006.