Russia panicking over Vladimir Putin's arrest warrant: Can he actually be arrested?

In March, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin.Putin is suspected of being involved in the unlawful deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia.Now, current and ex-Russian officials have told Moscow Times that the Kremlin is seemingly in a tizzy over it.But can Putin actually be arrested?Let’s take a closer look:ICC issues arrest warrantThe ICC in March issued an arrest warrant for the Russian president and top Russian official Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova.The court, based in the Hague, said the Russian president bears responsibility for alleged war crimes committed by Russian forces in Ukraine.The ICC said Putin “is allegedly responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of the population (children) and that of unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation”.

Moscow at the time utterly dismissed the warrant as ‘meaningless’.

It noted that Russia had withdrawn from the court in 2016.“Russia is not a member of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and bears no obligations under it. Russia does not cooperate with this body, and possible [pretences] for arrest coming from the International Court of Justice will be legally null and void for us.”Meanwhile, former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev compared the ICC’s arrest warrant for Putin to toilet paper.And yet, the Moscow Times reported that the Kremlin even called a special meeting to discuss the warrant."This is essentially a call to overthrow the government in Russia," one parliamentary deputy told the newspaper.Why does this matter?Though the ICC has no power to arrest Putin, 123 countries are signatories to the Rome Statue which established the ICC, as per The Conversation.

Putin could thus technically be arrested in any one of these nations.

Some, like Australia and Armenia, have hinted that they will actually follow through, as per Daily Beast.Which puts others, like Pretoria, which is set to host the Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa conference in August in a bind.As a member of the ICC, South Africa is under a legal obligation to arrest Putin, as per The Conversation.Will South Africa arrest Putin?South Africa says it is waiting for legal advice.So said Naledi Pandor, South Africa's minister for international relations.[caption id="attachment_12403792" align="alignnone" width="640"]

The BRICS meet in South Africa could put Pretoria in a bind. AFP[/caption]Speaking to radio station SAfm in March, Pandor said the government would consider its options."It is a difficult situation, but, you know, I think that the Cabinet needs to discuss this," she said. "Once I have the opinion I will take it to Cabinet, so our actions will be guided by the overall views of government."

But history shows this is extremely unlikely.

As Steven Gruzd, a Russia analyst at the South African Institute for International Affairs,   told Voice of America, “We've seen this dilemma before.""In 2015, Omar al-Bashir of Sudan came to South Africa for the African Union Summit and South Africa was ordered to arrest him. There was a local court order. But this was ignored and defied, and he was allowed to escape from a military base.”Gruzd says South Africa has three options – calling a virtual summit, leaving the court or granting Putin diplomatic immunity.The third is the tack the administration of Jacob Zuma took with regard to al-Bashir, as per The Conversation.With inputs from agenciesRead all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.