These two guys are not Charley. The British scientist Richard Dawkins and British-American author Christopher Hitchens wants to stop Pope Benedict XVI for "crimes against humanity" on the occasion of his visit to the United Kingdom, after accusations that he had covered the actions of pedophile priests, their lawyer said Monday. Mark Stephens (read The Guardian). Both militant atheism British intend to enter the UK courts and the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.
Questioned by AFP, Mr Dapo Akande, an expert in international law at the Université of Oxford, said that this attempt had 'no chance' of success, the Pope enjoys immunity "as chief State. The pope is not above the law, "said Christopher Hitchens, however, in the British press. "The concealment of institutionalized child rape is a crime in all laws."
Benedict XVI was accused of covering up the actions of pedophile priests before becoming pope in 2005. "This is a man whose instinct was, when his priests were caught in the act of concealing the scandal," said Richard Dawkins, The Sunday Times.
Both are considered intellectual figureheads of the "new atheism" which advocates a more critical stance vis-à-vis religion.
A British judge may issue an arrest warrant against a foreigner visiting the United Kingdom. Last December, former Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, had canceled last minute a trip to London after the issuance of an arrest warrant following a complaint from pro-Palestinian groups. After this incident, Britain has promised to consider "urgent" to change its legislation.
In 1998, former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet was arrested auRoyaume Kingdom, but it followed a Spanish arrest warrant and not to any proceedings on British soil.
Stephens believes that the Pope does not enjoy the immunity reserved for heads of state because the Vatican is "not a state." Experts believe that the City does not meet certain criteria necessary to form a state, possessing no real example