South Africa has said it will grant diplomatic immunity to officials going to the BRICS summit being held in Johannesberg in August.
BRICS is intended to strengthen ties between the nations that make it up – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Among those who may attend the August meeting is Russian President Vladimir Putin, who’s been accused by the International Criminal Court of war crimes, committed, they say, during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
South Africa has refused to condemn Russia’s actions insisting it wants to remain neutral.
Under its current laws, South Africa is obliged to arrest Mr Putin if he arrives on its shores, because it’s a member of the ICC.
However, a deputy minister in the South African presidency told the BBC it’s going to change the law to give South Africa the right to decide ‘who to arrest and who not to arrest’.
Newsnight’s Mark Urban reports.
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