Blair arrest bounty pays out over £10 000

2012-08-29 21:12

Tony Blair (File, AP)

Cape Town - Payouts for attempts to arrest former British prime minister Tony Blair now exceed £10 000,the activist site monbiot.com reported on Wednesday.

The Arrest Blair campaign was established to uphold the principle that no one is above the law by George Monbiot.

Blair and former US president George W Bush were found guilty in absentia of crimes against humanity by the 'private enterprise' Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal in November last year.

They were also found guilty of genocide for their roles in the Iraq War. The tribunal was presided over by five 'judges'.

The court acknowledged that the verdict was non-enforceable, but the findings were reported to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

The website arrestblair.org has offered monetary awards to people who try to make a citizen's arrest of Blair for alleged crimes against humanity.

Attempts to arrest him have been made in China, outside the Chilcot Inquiry into the Iraq war and the European Parliament; and in Dublin, Ireland.

The campaign was expected to pay Tom Grundy £2 400 for attempting to arrest Blair in Hong Kong during a public event in June 2012. The campaign has considered his attempt and decided that it qualifies for a share of the bounty. He is donating the money to various relevant charities.

Blair is in South Africa as one of the speakers at the Discovery Leadership Summit at the Sandton Convention Centre on Thursday.

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu withdrew from the summit on Tuesday because of Blair's attendance.