Turkey-linked law firm files 'motivated' application against Indian officials in UK
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The 41-page investigative report by the firm on its website, on which the case has been based, claims to provide "evidence of the presence of Israeli intelligence operatives during interrogations and torture of Muslims in Jammu and Kashmir".
A Turkey-linked UK-based law firm, Stoke White, has filed cases against top Indian officials, accusing them of "war crimes against Kashmiri Muslims."
The firm, in a release, stated that it has put up a "legal appeal" against the Indian Army chief and Home Minister to London’s Metropolitan Police following an investigative report on "war crimes in Jammu and Kashmir."
Hakan Camuz, chief of the firm, said, "Kashmiri Muslims have only international law to turn to after decades of seeking justice in their own country and only being subjected to further violence for doing so. This means Stoke White must begin the process of justice on their behalf, in a country that we understand respects the rule of law."
Camuz has in the past served as head of Turkey's Independent Industrialists and Businessmen Association (MÜSİAD) and served his home country's interests in several ways. There hasn't been any official reaction from Delhi over the development, but it is being seen as "the usual, motivated case deserving no response," said one official when asked.
The 41-page investigative report by the firm on its website, on which the case has been based, claims to provide "evidence of the presence of Israeli intelligence operatives during interrogations and torture of Muslims in Jammu and Kashmir".
The report terms UN listed terror groups like Jaish-E-Mohammad (JeM) and others like US and EU sanctioned Hizb-ul-Mujahideen as "non-state armed groups" and calls for the UK's universal jurisdiction on "war crimes under the Geneva convention" to be invoked against Indian officials and Indian govt functionaries.
JeM was responsible for the deadly 2019 Pulwama terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir in which over 41 Indian security personnel died.
In the past, the firm has filed similar cases against UAE officials for being involved in war crimes in Yemen. Turkey-UAE ties, much like Turkey's ties with India, have deteriorated in the last few years. The firm had filed the case, invoking the similar "universal jurisdiction" rule.
Interestingly, the firm also lists on its website the "best route to Turkish citizenship" and ways it "can connect to the right people to ensure that your investment abroad is a safe one." The firm has an office in Turkey as well.
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