Huge amounts of money were allegedly paid by individuals to influence decision-making inside European Parliament.
In January and August last year, a London-based law firm, which claims to have a presence in 18 countries, released what it termed as an “investigative” report on the “atrocities” that it claimed were happening in Kashmir.
On the basis of this “investigation”, which it claimed was based on more than 2,000 testimonies, Hakan Camuz, the director of international law at the said law firm named, “Stoke White”, filed an application with the London police seeking the arrest of then then Indian Army chief Manoj Mukund Narvane and Home Minister Amit Shah.
Now the same law firm and its director have been accused of having paid bribes to European Members of Parliament (MEPs) in lieu of availing their “parliamentary services”. These included facilitating meetings with other MEPs, organizing public events in Brussels, raising parliamentary questions, securing EU funding for their “charitable” causes and passing resolutions condemning “war crimes”.
Camuz’s name had in the past come up for his alleged role, along with certain NGOs, in organizing a “Russell Tribunal” on Kashmir in Sarajevo, Bosnia in December 2021, which was claimed to be on the lines of the International War Crimes Tribunal. In this, “war crimes” being committed in Kashmir were discussed.
That Camuz and the law firm reportedly paid at least Euro 75,000 to the MEPs was revealed during the investigation being carried out by the Belgian authorities in the European Parliamentary Corruption scandal that has engulfed the European Parliament. Belgian officials have found that in a “cash-for-favours scheme”, huge amounts of money and substantial gifts were allegedly paid by individuals in Qatar and Morocco to influence decision-making inside the European Parliament.
According to officials in New Delhi, they had ample proof to show that the so-called Kashmir-based “investigative” report that Camus prepared and filed in front of London police was in fact “cooked up and dressed” in Islamabad, Pakistan, and was part of the propaganda war that the Pakistan army-run state has been engaging in since 1947.
The Sunday Guardian reached out to Camuz seeking his response on allegations that he gave money to MEPs who raised questions. The Sunday Guardian also asked him regarding the individuals/groups that commissioned the two “investigative reports” on Kashmir and the role played by him in arranging the tribunal on Kashmir at Bosnia. No response was received by him or from the law firm till the time the story went to press.
In its response, the Office of the Public Prosecutor, Brussels, which is investigating the case, said: “We cannot give any information as it is covered by secrecy laws.”
According to officials tracking these developments, the Turkey-born Camuz is extremely close to the family members of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and his close association with Erodgan is well documented. He has in the past represented Erdogan’s son Bilal in a legal case involving a news report that had revealed the alleged links between Bilal and Turkey’s Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) which was accused of funding Islamic State (IS), a charge its supporters deny.
Intelligence officials go as far as to claim that IHH is one of the many fronts of Turkey’s Intelligence agency Milli Istihbarat Teskilati (MIT) or the National Intelligence Organization.
Intelligence agencies in India for long have been focusing on individuals and groups who, under the garb of working for human rights and allied topics, work to further the agenda of entities who also pay them. Officials believe that numerous such groups are active in Washington and European countries with the objective to liaise with politicians and government officials and prod them to take steps that are “anti-India”. The funds for these efforts have been traced to multiple countries including Canada, Turkey and Malaysia. Thus far, the donors have escaped accountability for their actions, but surveillance is rising on such matters.