On Tuesday March 5, a media release by Birchgrove Legal revealed that Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC), standing accused of “complicity in genocide.” The paperwork was submitted to the Office of the ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan KC yesterday.
This comes after the Islamic and Imam councils have rejected invitations to state Iftars, the 22nd week of Palestine protests nationwide, and the continuous sit-in outside Albanese’s Marrickville Office entering its fourth week.
Albanese is the first Western leader referred to the Court under Article 15 of the Rome Statute, to which Australia is party. This move, itself exercising a last resort mechanism, has been endorsed by over one hundred lawyers and barristers across Australia.
Birchgrove Legal’s principal solicitor, Moustafa Kheir stated, “As lawyers and barristers, it is impossible to sit back and watch sustained breaches of international law while Albanese continues to refer to the perpetrator as “a dear friend.”
Birchgrove Legal has been working for months to bring forth this action concerning Albanese’s “individual criminal responsibility” with regards to the genocide in Palestine.
Sheryn Omeri KC stated the focus on accessorial liability, in which the individual “aids, abets or otherwise assists in the commission of the crime, or its attempted commission”, and provides the means for the crime or contributes elsehow, “knowing that the group intends to commit the crime.”
The 92-page document names Albanese, foreign minister Penny Wong, Deputy PM Richard Marles, Home Affairs Minister Claire O’Neil and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton as having made statements of “unequivocal” support of Israel “regardless of what international crimes” may have occurred.
The following were some of the actions cited in the document, which could amount to “complicity in genocide”:
- Freezes to UNRWA funding after the International Court of Justice’s order emphasised the necessity for the provision of humanitarian assistance
- “Providing military aid and defence exports to Israel”
- The ambiguous deployment of Australian troops personnel in an “undisclosed” capacity and unidentified locations
- Permitting Australians to join the Israeli Defence Force (IDF)
The media release acknowledged that the Attorney-General has to approve and support the “prosecution of international crimes… which poses a significant conflict of interest”.
It was also noted that a Senate bill was recently introduced in an attempt to reverse this power. If passed and adopted, the Attorney-General cannot block “crimes against humanity cases from being heard in Australian courts”.
Birchgrove Legal first contacted Albanese to notify him of the proceedings, and a second time, to receive a response on behalf of the Palestinian community. No response was given. As of yet, no official statement from his office has been made.
Honi will continue to report on any updates.
Amendment: Albanese dismissed this move, saying it “clearly has no credibility going forward” and that “I don’t think that peaceful resolution is advanced by misinformation, and there has been substantial amounts of misinformation about what is occurring.”
