![Australia pressing UN to put Mugabe on trial](https://www.jurist.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/jurist-white-text.png)
[JURIST] Australia is urging the UN Security Council to put Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe [official website] on trial before the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] for crimes against his own people. Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer [official website] says that Mugabe has ruined Zimbabwe's economy and is a "terrible threat" to its citizens. As Zimbabwe is not a party to the ICC statute, it could only initiate legal process against him through a Security Council resolution. The New Zealand government has already called for Mugabe to be put on trial [JURIST report] in front of the ICC and for Zimbabwe to be expelled from the International Monetary Fund [official website] for failing to repay its debts. The victory of Mugabe's party during March parliamentary elections has, however, guaranteed Mugabe's power and home and given him the two-thirds legislative majority needed to make constitutional changes. Mugabe has vowed to stay in office until his "revolution" is complete and is planning on serving another six-year term, which will leave him in office until the age of 84. BBC News has more.