Australian Federal Attorney-General Robert McClelland has refused to allow a war crimes case against the Sri Lankan president to proceed in Australia.
Retired engineer Jegan Waran, 63, has filed charges in the Melbourne Magistrates Court against Mahinda Rajapaksa, claiming civilian targets were bombed in 2009 during Sri Lanka's civil war.
The president has arrived in Perth for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).
Mr McClelland's consent is needed for such cases to proceed. His office issued a statement saying he would be in breach of international laws which provide immunity to heads of diplomatic missions if he allowed the case to go ahead.
"Those immunities include personal inviolability including from any form of arrest or detention and immunity from the criminal jurisdiction of the receiving state," a spokesman for Mr McClelland said.
ABC Australia
