Thu Jun 14 2012 18:00 | ITN
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Former British prime minister Tony Blair has been heckled by a protester threatening to
perform a citizen's arrest as he prepared to make a speech on religion and globalisation
at the University of Hong Kong on Thursday.
Mr Blair was in the city for the inaugural speech of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, which
aims to promote understanding between religions.
But almost as soon as he took to the rostrum, activist Tom Grundy walked down the
steps of the lecture theatre, claiming he was arresting Mr Blair on charges of breaking
international law and the Geneva Convention in relation to the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
As Mr Grundy approached the podium at which Blair was speaking, he was himself threatened
with police action and left the auditorium peacefully.
Outside, Grundy told reporters: "I attempted a citizen's arrest against Tony Blair today
because back in 2009 he admitted he would have gone to war with Iraq regardless of the
[Weapons of Mass Destruction], and that means it's in defiance of the Nuremburg Principles,
the UN Charter, the Geneva Convention, and a pending International Criminal Court, a
Rome Statute."
"He misled the British people, he's caused the deaths of 100,000 people at least, and there
was some obligation on Hong Kong police to actually arrest him," he added.
Mr Blair was clearly irritated by the interruption, which comes just weeks after a similar
incident as he gave evidence at the Leveson Inquiry into press ethics.
<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/i8MQfEgMz9Q" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Former British prime minister Tony Blair has been heckled by a protester threatening to
perform a citizen's arrest as he prepared to make a speech on religion and globalisation
at the University of Hong Kong on Thursday.
Mr Blair was in the city for the inaugural speech of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, which
aims to promote understanding between religions.
But almost as soon as he took to the rostrum, activist Tom Grundy walked down the
steps of the lecture theatre, claiming he was arresting Mr Blair on charges of breaking
international law and the Geneva Convention in relation to the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
As Mr Grundy approached the podium at which Blair was speaking, he was himself threatened
with police action and left the auditorium peacefully.
Outside, Grundy told reporters: "I attempted a citizen's arrest against Tony Blair today
because back in 2009 he admitted he would have gone to war with Iraq regardless of the
[Weapons of Mass Destruction], and that means it's in defiance of the Nuremburg Principles,
the UN Charter, the Geneva Convention, and a pending International Criminal Court, a
Rome Statute."
"He misled the British people, he's caused the deaths of 100,000 people at least, and there
was some obligation on Hong Kong police to actually arrest him," he added.
Mr Blair was clearly irritated by the interruption, which comes just weeks after a similar
incident as he gave evidence at the Leveson Inquiry into press ethics.
