Accusations of war crimes and financing terrorism have followed UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed during his recent visit to France, where the French government pressured the judiciary to prevent his prosecution.
According to French human rights sources, the Paris Court of Appeal definitively rejected two complaints filed in Paris in 2018 and 2021, accusing Mohammed bin Zayed of committing war crimes and financing terrorism during the war in Yemen.
This decision by the French judiciary coincided with Mohammed bin Zayed’s visit to Paris and his meeting with France President Emmanuel Macron, during which they witnessed the signing of the “UAE-French Framework for Cooperation in Artificial Intelligence.”
Sources reported that the French government exerted political pressure to halt the investigations against Mohammed bin Zayed, aiming to prevent any embarrassment in case he faced an arrest warrant, as well as to avoid any negative impact on economic investments with the UAE.
On December 4, the investigating chamber ruled that there was no reason to continue the investigations, reaffirming a similar decision made in March by the chief judge of the crimes against humanity section of the Paris Court.
In March 13, the chief investigating judge of the crimes against humanity section of the Paris Court issued an order to dismiss a lawsuit filed in late 2021 by eight Yemenis and the “Legal Center for Rights and Development,” a Yemeni non-governmental organization.
Several complaints were filed against Mohammed bin Zayed for committing war crimes, including charges of torture, enforced disappearances, criminal conspiracy, and even financing terrorism.
The lawsuits against Mohammed bin Zayed were based on documents, testimonies, UN reports, journalistic articles, and UN documentation that revealed the UAE’s support for armed militias to spread chaos and destruction in Yemen.
