Attempted Arrest of war criminal ─ Cronin to Blair in Brussels

Re-reported with comment by Carolyn Bennett

“You are guilty of war crimes”

“A war of aggression”

Military conflict waged without the justification of self-defense

In breach of customary international law

Specifically the Nuremberg Principles under the rubric of

the Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal Court

the legal body exercising jurisdiction over

the crime of aggression

Irish journalist, Citizen David Cronin attempted to arrest former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and escort him to the nearest Brussels police station to be charged formally with these crimes.

If successful and “found to be eligible for the bounty,” Cronin said, “he would prefer that the money go to a Palestinian human rights charity in the Gaza Strip.”

Reports said Blair “momentarily flinched” at the attempted arrest; but a bodyguard “quickly pushed” Cronin away. The former UK prime minister is in Brussels for a hearing on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Belgium and the UK have ratified the Rome Statute but all parties to the text have yet to adopt a definition of the “crime of aggression.” In a review conference to be held later this year, parties to the Statute are expected to come to an agreement on the definition of “crime of aggression.”

“My motivation in trying to arrest Blair,” Cronin told the press, “is entirely based on my contempt for the crimes he [Blair] has committed and abetted in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Lebanon and Serbia … Perhaps one million lives were lost in Iraq alone.”

This news item gives pause to consider another living quarter for the dock: Bush-Clinton-Bush-Obama.


Sources
“Journalist attempts citizen's arrest of Blair in EU parliament” (Leigh Phillips), EUObserver, March 23, 2010, http://euobserver.com/9/29739
Also March 23, 2010, http://www.rnw.nl/english/radio-program-list/2539