After Donald Trump, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, now Israel-based attorney has said China can be legally held accountable for coronavirus outbreak

After United States President Donald Trump and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, now Israel-based attorney has said China can be 'legally held accountable' for 'cover-ups' related to coronavirus outbreak. Trump had earlier called the COVID-19 as the “Chinese Virus” because it had originated from the mainland and Pompeo had blamed China, Russia and Iran for spreading misinformation about the novel virus. 

According to international media reports, Nitsana Darshan-Leitner has said that an argument can be made in a similar way it is made for terrorism which is “legally actionable”. According to the Israel-based attorney, any government that engages in “reckless disregard and negligence” and “covers up an epidemic” which has a potential to spread to the entire world can be held legally liable. Nitsana, who has a specialization in suing terrorist regimes and state sponsors who practice a violation of human rights on behalf of the victims, was quoted in a report by an international media outlet. 

The expert also added that “cover-ups and deliberate acts” to nullify a medical crisis are not included in the protected acts of a sovereign state or of the leaders who are responsible. According to the attorney, the communist superpower is not to be blamed for creating the deadly virus but for not sounding the international alarm and trying to conceal it from the rest of the world. 

Pompeo Urges China To Make Data Public

Pompeo on March 20 urged Beijing to make details of the emergence of coronavirus ‘available to the whole world’. China, on serval occasions, has been accused of covering up information on the novel virus. US President Donald Trump had also said that the world is suffering because of the cover-up, however, China has said that they have shared data with the US throughout the health crisis. 

Mike Pompeo, while speaking to the White House reporters said, “The Chinese government was the first to know of this risk to the world. And that puts a special obligation to make sure that data gets to our scientists, our professionals.”. 

Pompeo’s statement came after Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, Geng Shuang accused Trump of trying to ‘shift the blame’ for coronavirus pandemic. Shuang reportedly said that some people on the US side are trying to stigmatise China’s fight against the epidemic and shift the blame onto China. He further added that the approach ignores the great sacrifice made by the Chinese people to safeguard the health and safety of humankind, and slanders China’s major contribution to global.