Briton Tom Grundy Attempts Citizens Arrest On Tony Blair In Hong

Two separate reports; the first and smaller of the two, deals as much with the purpose of Blair's speech in Hong Kong, though falling as it does into the, shit you couldn't make up category. In fact I think it borders on 'one of us is insane' and I know who it ain't.

The other, longer piece with photo's, deals primarily with the incident.

Tom Grundy, the Briton who attempted to arrest Tony Blair in Hong Kong, said the act was symbolic

Protester heckles former British PM Blair in Hong Kong
14 June 2012

HONG KONG: A lone protester on Thursday heckled former British prime minister Tony Blair as he prepared to make a speech on religion and globalisation at the University of Hong Kong.

The man shouted about breaches of the Geneva Conventions on the conduct of war during Blair's years in office as the ex-leader took the stage.

"I wouldn't come any further... you can go," Blair said as the man approached the podium where he was standing.

The unidentified man, who spoke with a British accent, came within metres (feet) of the former prime minister before being blocked by university staff and escorted peacefully from the room.

"That's democracy for you," Blair said as the man was led away.

Blair went on with his speech apparently undeterred by the incident, telling his audience that the forces of globalisation were "multiplying and intensifying the impact of religion" around the world.

He said the world needed more "platforms of interfaith dialogue and action" to improve understanding between people of different belief systems.

Blair, who was Labour prime minister between 1997 and 2007, took Britain into the US-led war in Iraq in 2003, as well as sending troops into Afghanistan as part of the US-led operation in 2001.

He was appointed envoy for the Middle East Quartet comprising the United States, United Nations, European Union and Russia in 2007 but his role has come under increased scrutiny recently as efforts for peace have stalled.

He was speaking in Hong Kong as the founder of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, which seeks to promote understanding between the major religions.

"The 20th century battle ... between left and right is gone," he said, adding that he believed the biggest threat to world peace in the 21st century was religious conflict.

"This issue cannot be minimised, it cannot be treated as anything other than it is, and it's got to be studied." channelnewsasia

Briton Tom Grundy Attempts Citizens Arrest On Tony Blair In Hong
By Dina Rickman
14 June 2012

A British activist in Hong Kong has attempted to perform a citizen's arrest on Tony Blair, claiming it was his "moral obligation" to hold the former PM for war crimes.

Tom Grundy, a 29-year-old Briton living in the country, attempted the arrest at 5:40pm local time, around 11am in Britain, as the former prime minister gave a speech about faith and globalisation at Hong Kong university.

The activist told The Huffington Post UK he had planned the action two days before the speech, and sat waiting for the former Labour leader for an hour before the attempted arrest.

Grundy said he wanted to "renew awareness" about Blair, who he claims had violated international law in his support for the Iraq War.

"In 2009 Blair admitted he would have gone to war regardless of WMDs and international law forbids wars for reasons of regime change. So that's why I tried to perform a citizen's arrest," he said.

"I want him to fear that wherever he goes and I hope it may stick one day."

Grundy denied he was harassing Tony Blair saying: "I took one-to-two minutes of Mr Blair's time to make this point. I wouldn't call that harassment in any way. There's nothing legally ambiguous with regard to standing up and speaking loudly. He's a public figure and he's an ex-leader and he's still making public appearances like this… He's not immune simply because he's no longer in power."

He said during the incident he said he got "as close to him as I could."

"I was a metre or two directly in front of him but there was a gaggle of photographers and his men in front of me preventing me to go any further. I put it to him that he'd caused the death of at least 100,000 people during the Iraq War,

"I closed by telling him he can't talk about religion when he has set back religious tolerance by decades."

Grundy, who said he informed news agency Reuters about his plans before the arrest, claimed Blair's speech about faith was hypocritical, saying: "He has enraged the entire Muslim world, [and] endangered British citizens. When there was a terrorist attack on 7/7 those involved admitted that it was related to British foreign policy."

After the incident, which lasted for one or two minutes, Grundy said he looked directly at Blair before leaving of his own accord. More HuffPo