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'I don't regret a thing. Taking risks is sometimes necessary, in order to challenge injustice'
Peter Tatchell
Tatchell quits as Green candidate due to brain injuries
Gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell has announced that "with great reluctance and regret" he has stood down as the Green candidate for Oxford East due to the lasting effects of brain injuries inflicted by Robert Mugabe's bodyguards and Russian neo-nazis.
He was knocked unconscious and left with impaired vision in his right eye, poor memory, concentration, balance and coordination when he was attacked by Mugabe's bodyguards after attempting a citizen's arrest of the Zimbabwean president in Brussels in 2001. His injuries were compounded in 2007 when he suffered severe concussion at the hands of neo-nazis at a gay pride event in Moscow.
Tatchell said his condition further deteriorated in July when he hit his head on the metal rail of bus during his campaigning for a Cornish parliament.
"My brain injuries from the Mugabe and Moscow bashings mean that I would not be able to campaign effectively in the general election or do the duties required of an MP, if I was elected," he said.
"It would not be right for me to seek election if I could not do the job of an MP to the high standards that I want and that Oxford East voters have a right to expect. If I was elected, I could manage the parliamentary duties or the constituency work. But my health is not strong enough for me to do both."
Earlier this year he told the Guardian that his doctor had advised him to radically reduce his workload for a period of up to a year, but he decided he couldn't do so while there was a general election to contest.
Today he said: "The injuries don't stop me from campaigning but I am slower, make more mistakes, get tired easily and take longer to do things. My memory, concentration, balance and coordination have been adversely affected. I can't campaign at the pace I used to.
"Following the Moscow assault, I never rested and recuperated. I carried on campaigning, with a very heavy schedule of commitments in Oxford East. After several months, I was severely exhausted. This stress and exhaustion probably intensified the damage and thwarted my recovery.
"I have postponed making this announcement for several months, in the hope that I might get better and be able to carry on as the Green candidate. Unfortunately, my condition has not improved. If anything, it is worse."
He said he had been advised that if he slowed down and reduced his workload his condition might improve after a year or more, but that a full recovery was unlikely.
But he added: "I don't regret a thing. Getting a thrashing and brain injuries was not what I had expected or wanted. But I was aware of the risks. Taking risks is sometimes necessary, in order to challenge injustice. My beatings had the positive effect of helping draw international attention to the violent, repressive nature of the Russian and Zimbabwean regimes. I'm glad of that."
