2023-11-27 22:10:00
From Austria, two Britons filed a complaint against the Emirati president of Interpol for “torture” and “arbitrary detention”. In place since 2021, Ahmed Nasser al-Raisi is expected in Vienna for the general assembly of the international police organization.
Matthew Hedges is a researcher, Ali Issa Ahmad is a security officer. They were both arrested in the United Arab Emirates, in 2018 and 2019 respectively.
The first reported a “terrifying” seven months of detention, mostly in solitary confinement, with “threats of violence”, with the aim of making him confess to allegedly belonging to the British intelligence services. Forced to confess, he was sentenced to life in prison for espionage in November 2018, then pardoned less than a week later, under international pressure.
The second, a football fan, claims to have been arrested for wearing a jersey in support of Qatar during the Asian Nations Cup. He said he was punched and stabbed during his roughly three weeks in detention.
As reported by AFP, both believe that as inspector general of the Ministry of the Interior, Mr. Raisi bears responsibility for their fate.
“We hope that the Austrian authorities will investigate these serious allegations,” said Rodney Dixon, their lawyer. To do this, the procedure is based on “universal jurisdiction”, a principle which allows the authorities to initiate prosecutions if the suspect travels to the country.
Also seized, in particular because it houses the headquarters of Interpol, France opened an investigation against him in March 2022 for “complicity in torture”.
The plaintiffs also initiated criminal proceedings in Norway, Sweden and Türkiye.
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