Paris, Europe Brief News – Paris Tribunal have opened an inquiry into torture allegations against Interpol President Major General Ahmed Nasser al-Raisi of the United Arab Emirates.
Two British citizens, Matthew Hedges and Ali Issa Ahmad, who had been arrested in the UAE before al-Raisi was elected president of the France-based world police agency, will on Wednesday give evidence against him at the Specialized Judicial Unit for Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes of the Paris Tribunal, their lawyers said.
The two Britons filed a criminal complaint against al-Raisi with the prosecutors of the Paris Tribunal in October last year under the principle of universal jurisdiction.
In January, they filed a criminal complaint directly with the judges of the Tribunal to open an investigation into claims against al-Raisi.
The new Interpol president was on French territory at the time, visiting the international police agency’s headquarters in Lyon.
Al-Raisi was elected for a four-year term as Interpol president in November last year. He has been accused by human rights groups of involvement in torture and arbitrary detentions in the UAE.
The UAE are among several governments around the world accused of using Pegasus spyware to monitor the activities of dissidents and other critics, following the leaking of a list of 50,000 alleged potential surveillance targets to rights groups.
