NGO to launch legal action before Netanyahu’s planned trip to Hungary
The Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) says it is launching “urgent legal action to counter Benjamin Netanyahu’s planned visit to Hungary tomorrow”.
“HRF will petition the ICC [International Criminal Court], call on the Hungarian Public Prosecutor to arrest him, and notify European airspace authorities to deny him passage,” it said in a post on X.
“Legal teams across Europe are also preparing to activate universal jurisdiction if he travels beyond Hungary. HRF urges all European states to uphold international law and refuse safe haven to suspected war criminals,” the post read.
The Belgium-based NGO was formed seven months ago and has pulled together lawyers and activists from around the world to prepare cases against Israeli soldiers based on social media content shared by the soldiers themselves.
Netanyahu’s Hungary visit ‘an affront to int’l law’: Rights group
Al Mezan, a Gaza-based rights group, has called on Hungary to arrest the Israeli prime minister when he visits the country on Wednesday.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against Netanyahu on accusations of war crimes committed against Palestinians in Gaza. Hungary, like all other signatories to the Rome Statute, which created the ICC, has a duty to carry out the court’s rulings, including arrest warrants.
“Failure to arrest him = a serious violation of Hungary’s Rome Statute obligations & a clear message that alleged war criminals are welcome within the European Union,” Al Mezan wrote on social media.
“Should the visit proceed without executing the ICC arrest warrant, the EU and its member states must firmly and unequivocally condemn Hungary’s violation of the Rome Statute and its failure to uphold the fundamental principles of the rule of law and international justice.”
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