Swiss prosecutors examine criminal complaints against Israeli president in Davos

Swiss prosecutors clarified on Wednesday that they are studying several complaints filed against Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who is visiting the country, accused by NGOs of "incitement to genocide" in the context of the war in Gaza.

The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland confirmed in an email sent to AFP that they have received "several criminal complaints" against Herzog, who participated this week in the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in the luxurious Swiss ski resort of Davos.

"The criminal complaints are under review in accordance with the usual procedure," the public prosecutors indicated, without disclosing the details of the complaints, while specifying they are in contact with the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs to "examine the matter of the person concerned's immunity."

The Keystone-ATS news agency revealed that one of the complaints came from an NGO called "Legal Action Against Genocide," representing a family repeatedly displaced during the war in Gaza, some of whose members were reportedly killed or seriously injured.

The NGO requests that Herzog be prosecuted "for incitement to genocide and crimes against humanity," according to the press agency.

Israel categorically denies such accusations, emphasizing that the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas uses the population of Gaza as a human shield.

Herzog delivered a speech on Tuesday in Davos and participated in meetings there on Wednesday morning, but it is uncertain whether he is still in Switzerland.

He had already been the subject of complaints during the last Davos Forum, but the prosecutors did not open an investigation at that time, still according to the Keystone-ATS agency.