The British football fan claims he was tortured and falsely imprisoned in the UAE
A British man who was detained in the United Arab Emirates in January 2019, and who claims he was tortured after going on holiday there, was given High Court approval late last month to seek legal action against the head of Interpol.
Ali Issa Ahmad, a Sudanese-born British citizen, sued Major General Ahmed Naser Al-Raisi, who was appointed the new president of Interpol last November, for complicity in torture, along with six other government officials. At the time of the alleged incidents, Al-Raisi was inspector general of the UAE’s Ministry of Interior and was in charge of overseeing prisons and police.
The order of the High Court in London granted Ahmed official permission to pursue the case outside of UK jurisdiction. Previously, a letter from UAE officials had claimed diplomatic immunity for those involved and stated UK courts had no authority in this matter.
“I am so happy that the High Court has granted permission to serve my claim against the people responsible for my torture in UAE. I have suffered for the last three years. I deserve justice. Torture is painful, it has changed my life and changed how I feel emotionally. I am a victim of torture because of the football shirt I wore,” said Ahmad, as cited by the Guardian.
The British citizen was arrested in 2019 during his stay in UAE to watch Asian Cup matches. According to his claims, he was taken into custody for wearing a football T-shirt with a Qatari logo the day after he attended a match between Qatar and Iraq on January 22. From January 23 to February 12, 2019, he was imprisoned and allegedly repeatedly assaulted by the security officials, who he says inflicted both physical and psychological harm upon him.
