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The case alleges that the king, along with the Australian government and its institutions, is perpetuating genocide by maintaining systems that disadvantage Indigenous people across numerous socio-economic measures.
Uncle Robbie Thorpe says Australia is "totally in denial" about the treatment of Aboriginal people. Judges have rejected Krautatungalung elder Robbie Thorpe's landmark bid to prosecute King Charles III over the alleged genocide of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
The case alleged that the king is perpetuating genocide by maintaining systems that disadvantage Indigenous people across numerous socio-economic measures. Mr Thorpe says he will take his allegations against the monarch to the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands. Judges have rejected Krautatungalung elder Robbie Thorpe's landmark bid to prosecute King Charles III over the alleged genocide of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
The case alleges that the king, along with the Australian government and its institutions, is perpetuating genocide by maintaining systems that disadvantage Indigenous people across numerous socio-economic measures. Monday's ruling by Victoria's Court of Appeal was Robbie Thorpe's third legal defeat since he began trying in 2023 to launch a private prosecution against King Charles III.
"If it wasn't for the acts of terror and the policies of genocide, Australia wouldn't exist. Monday's ruling by Victoria's Court of Appeal was Mr Thorpe's third legal defeat since he began trying in 2023 to launch a private prosecution against the monarch in Melbourne Magistrates' Court. The alleged offences were continuing acts of genocide committed since September 28, 2022 against First Peoples, contrary to common law, federal law concerning genocide and First Peoples' sovereign laws.
But the filing was knocked back by a senior registrar of the Magistrates' Court on the grounds that it did not reference any "proper source of law". The Court of Appeal dismissed an application by Mr Thorpe to appeal the decision on the basis that it had no real prospect of success.
"While acknowledging the significance of the questions raised by Uncle Robbie, the primary judge stated that the only jurisdiction she could exercise was the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of Victoria," the appeal court said. "The primary judge concluded that the senior registrar of the Magistrates' Court acted lawfully … as the charges alleged in the charge-sheet did not disclose an offence known to the law of Victoria.
" It leaves the 68-year-old activist with one final domestic option: seeking permission to appeal to the High Court of Australia. After exhausting his options in Australian courts, he said he would take his allegations against the monarch to the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands.
"The International Criminal Court will expose Australia for what it really is — a lying, racist, illegal occupation committing genocide," Mr Thorpe said. The British monarch has common law immunity from all criminal and civil liability in the United Kingdom, a condition that has likely been inherited by Australia. Robbie Thorpe is vowing to take the fight against King Charles to an international jurisdiction.
Mr Thorpe said his efforts in Australian courts would play a role if the case reached an international jurisdiction.
"It's accruing all this unwillingness, inability, reluctance to deal with these issues. The ICC does not recognise head-of-state immunity and has the jurisdiction to prosecute on a charge of genocide. But an individual such as Mr Thorpe does not have the option to launch a private prosecution in the ICC.
The most common path is for an individual to make the ICC's Office of the Prosecutor aware of evidence, as happened in cases against Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. AAP/AP
Court Of Appeal Krautatungalung Indigenous Genocide Aboriginal Uncle Robbie Thorpe King Charles Iii International Criminal Court Elder
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