A lawsuit for “torture” and “arbitrary detention” was filed in Austria by two Britons, against the president of Interpol, Ahmed Nasser al-Raisi, who is going to visit Vienna for the general assembly of the international organization.

“We hope that the Austrian authorities will investigate these serious allegations,” said the two Britons’ lawyer, Rodney Dixon.

The lawsuit is based on the principle of “international jurisdiction” which allows local authorities to initiate legal investigations against a foreign national for an offense committed in another country. A spokeswoman for Vienna’s public prosecutor’s office said the two men’s appeal was being reviewed to determine whether Austria had jurisdiction to extradite al-Raishi, who is from the United Arab Emirates.

Detective Matthew Hedges and Ali Isa Ahmad, a private police officer, were arrested in the United Arab Emirates in 2018 and 2019 respectively. The former, then teaching at the University of Exeter, in southwest England, told AFP last year that he was arrested after an educational trip. He spent seven months in prison, under “terrifying” conditions. He spent most of his time in solitary confinement and received “threats of violence” in order to confess to being a British intelligence agent. After his confession, which he said was coerced, he was sentenced to life in prison for espionage in November 2018. Due to international pressure, he was pardoned about a week after his conviction.

Ali Isa Ahmad, who is a football fan, claims he was arrested for wearing a Qatar shirt – then at odds with the United Arab Emirates – during the Asian Cup. He says he was held for about three weeks and was stabbed and punched.

Both believe Raisi is responsible because at the time he was the inspector general of the UAE’s interior ministry.

France, which has also been sued since Interpol is based in Lyon, opened an investigation in March 2022 against Raisi for “complicity in torture”.

The two Britons have also filed lawsuits in other countries, such as Norway, Sweden and Turkey.

Ahmed Nasser al-Raisi was elected head of Interpol – an honorary post with no substantive powers – in November 2021, despite protests from human rights groups.

The lawsuit filed today also concerns the case of Ahmed Jaffa Mohammed Ali, a “dissident” from Bahrain who has been held since January 2022. Ali had been convicted of “terrorism-related offenses” and was arrested in Serbia after he filed a request for asylum, because a “red notice” had been issued against him by Interpol. He was then extradited back to his country.

“Interpol is not involved in the process of deporting” a person, said its secretary general, Jürgen Stock. “Our role is to issue announcements on behalf of our member countries,” he explained.