Two British nationals, Matthew Hedges and Ali Issa Ahmad, have filed a criminal complaint in Vienna against Interpol’s President Ahmed Naser al-Raisi. The complainants accuse Raisi, a senior interior ministry security official in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), of ultimate responsibility for their alleged arrest and torture. The complaint, based on the principle of universal jurisdiction, was submitted to Austrian prosecutors. Hedges, arrested in 2018 on suspicion of being a British spy, and Ahmad, who claims to have been beaten and stabbed in UAE detention, join similar complaints filed in Turkey, France, Sweden, and Norway against Raisi. Austria can theoretically judge such crimes under universal jurisdiction if suspects are on its territory.
Interpol President Faces Torture Complaint as British Nationals File Case in Vienna
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