Swiss prosecutors on Friday confirmed that Israeli President Isaac Herzog had been the subject of criminal complaints during his visit to the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, as Israel finds itself accused of committing war crimes in Gaza.
This content was published on
3 minutes
Keystone-SDA
العربية
ar
سويسرا تؤكّد وجود شكاوى جنائية ضدّ الرئيس الإسرائيلي
“The criminal complaints will be examined according to the usual procedure,” the Office of the Swiss Attorney General told the Keystone-SDA news agency, adding that it would contact the Swiss foreign ministry to examine the question of immunity of the individual concerned.
The office would not reveal details about the complaints.
The Keystone-SDA agency said the complaints come from a group called “Legal Action Against Crimes Against Humanity”. It says it hopes to open a criminal investigation in parallel with the proceedings before the International Court of Justice. “We are convinced that Switzerland has an obligation to conduct an investigation,” it said in a press release.
Switzerland has already disregarded diplomatic immunity in the past, the group points out, citing the example of former Gambian president Yahya Jammeh. The same should apply to “Western criminals”. The press release does not specify what the Israeli president is accused of.
Israel is currently facing charges of genocide before the United Nations International Court of Justice in connection with its military operation in the Gaza Strip. This military campaign was launched after the Hamas attack against Israel on October 7, which killed around 1,140 people. More than 24,000 other people have died in Gaza following the Israeli offensive, the majority of them women and children.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog visited the WEF in Davos on Thursday. In his speech, he denounced the “evil empire” led by Iran. In the longer term, “we want to achieve peace”, he insisted.
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. You can find them here.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
External Content
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Almost finished… We need to confirm your email address. To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.
Protein in abdominal fat could help shape obesity treatment
This content was published on
The study analysed fat cells from different locations in the body, and found that those in the abdomen have unique properties.
North African asylum claims fall after rapid Swiss processing
This content was published on
The accelerated procedure, now out of its test phase, has resulted in a significant drop in applications from North African countries.
This content was published on
The artist's song "The Code" focuses on their journey as a nonbinary individual. It is one of the favourites to win this year's contest.
Swiss climate activists block vehicles near Gotthard tunnel
This content was published on
Around ten climate activists briefly blocked the A2 motorway near the northern entrance of the Gotthard tunnel on Thursday.
Watches belonging to Michael Schumacher up for auction
This content was published on
Schumacher's family is auctioning off eight rare watches from his collection in Geneva. The Christie's auction will take place on Monday.
Joya Marleen and Baschi named best solo acts at Swiss Music Awards
This content was published on
St. Gallen singer Joya Marleen and Baschi from Basel were named artists of the year at the Swiss Music Awards 2024 on Wednesday night.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.