Genocide case against King Charles rejected by Australian court/Image: Reuters
An Australian appeals court has rejected an Indigenous activist’s attempt to bring a private prosecution against King Charles III over allegations that Australia’s treatment of Indigenous people amounts to genocide.
Three judges at Victoria state’s Court of Appeal ruled against 68-year-old Uncle Robbie Thorpe on Monday, marking his third legal defeat since he began pursuing the case in 2023. The High Court accepts about 10% of applications for leave to appeal.
Thorpe, an elder of the Krauatungalung people, said he did not expect a fair hearing in Australia and would take his allegations to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Netherlands after exhausting his domestic legal options. “The International Criminal Court will expose Australia for what it really is — a lying, racist, illegal occupation committing genocide,” Thorpe said. She said the monarch’s common law immunity has likely carried over to Australia, although she was unaware of it having been tested in an Australian court. “An individual cannot commence a prosecution,” Rothwell said. “It’s then up to the International Criminal Court to determine whether they would seek to prosecute.”
The ruling leaves Thorpe with one domestic option: seeking permission to appeal to the High Court of Australia.