Australian court rejects bid to prosecute Britain's King Charles for genocide

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Three Australian appellate judges on Monday rejected an activist’s landmark bid to prosecute Britain’s King Charles III over the alleged genocide of Indigenous people.The ruling by Victoria state’s Court of Appeal leaves Uncle Robbie Thorpe with one final domestic option: seeking permission to appeal to the High Court of Australia. The High Court accepts only about 10% of applications for leave to appeal.Indigenous Australians use the titles ‘uncle’ and ‘aunt’ as marks of respect for community elders.Thorpe, a 68-year-old elder of the Krautatungalung people, said Monday that he did not expect to receive a fair hearing in 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,” Thorpe said.Monday’s ruling was Thorpe’s third legal defeat since he began trying in 2023 to launch a private prosecution against the monarch in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court.His case alleges that the king, who is also Australia’s head...