German Lawyers Sue Scholz, over Gaza ‘Genocide

Sudan Events – Sumaya Sayed 

A group of lawyers is filing a criminal complaint with the German federal prosecutor against senior German politicians, including Chancellor Olaf Scholz, accusing them of “aiding and abetting” the genocide they say is being committed by Israel in Gaza.

The case against several members of the country’s Federal Security Council, which directs national security policy and authorises weapons exports, was announced on Friday.

In addition to Scholz, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Economics Minister Robert Habeck, Finance Minister Christian Lindner and others stand accused.

The lawyers behind the case represent families of two Palestinians with roots in the Gaza Strip, including that of Palestinian-German migration scholar Nora Ragab.

“We, Palestinians in the diaspora, will not stand by and watch a genocide being committed against our families and our people,” Ragab said in a statement. “We will use all means at our disposal. Today we aim to hold the German government accountable for its complicity in the genocide in Gaza.”

The European Legal Support Centre, the Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy and the UK-based Law for Palestine are among the civil society organisations backing the case.

In a jointly written statement, they said: “The German state is one of the countries that has shown some of the strongest political and material support to Israel in its assault on the Gaza Strip and the Palestinians.”

Alexander Gorski, one of the lawyers supporting the case, acknowledged that “from a legal point of view and given the political landscape in Germany, this case will be a difficult one.”