Mugabe extradition bid fails
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Mugabe: Accused of torture
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LONDON, England (CNN) -- A British judge has refused to issue a warrant for the arrest and extradition of Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe on charges of torture.
District Judge Timothy Workman issued the ruling rejecting an application for a warrant that had been filed by human rights activist Peter Tatchell under Britain's Criminal Justice Act of 1988.
Tatchell was told that his application at London's Bow Street Magistrates Court could not succeed because under UK common law Mugabe has absolute immunity to prosecution as a head of state.
Tatchell was trying to exploit international laws that led to the arrest of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet when he visited London for an operation in 1998.
The move meant Mugabe could have been sent to Britain from more than 100 countries with which Britain has an extradition treaty.
These include Switzerland, France, Malaysia, Thailand and South Africa -- all nations that Mugabe has visited in the last year.
Judge Workman told the court: "I am satisfied that Robert Mugabe is president and head of state of Zimbabwe and is entitled whilst he is head of state to that immunity.
"He is not liable to any form of arrest or detention and I am therefore unable to issue the warrant that has been applied for."
Tatchell, who was beaten by bodyguards as he tried to make a citizen's arrest on Mugabe in Belgium in 2001, told reporters afterwards he was considering an appeal.
"This judgment gives President Mugabe and all other heads of state a free hand to torture with impunity," he said.
