JURIST Supported by the University of Pittsburgh
PAPER CHASE NEWSBURSTDigest RSS feedFull RSS feed
Serious law. Primary sources. Global perspective.


Tuesday, May 17, 2005

Lawyers for alleged Saudi torture victims going after Saudi assets in UK
Jamie Sterling at 2:08 PM ET

[JURIST] A UK lawyer representing three Westerners allegedly tortured in a Saudi Arabian prison said Tuesday that her firm would attempt to seize Saudi assets in Britain, including those of Saudi Arabian Airlines, as reparation for the men's mistreatment and to pay for overdue legal costs. The men - two British nationals and a British-Canadian citizen - were held in Saudi prison for two years and confessed [video] to planning a stream of bomb attacks in Riyadh in 2000 and 2001 [BBC backgrounder]. The men continue to plead their innocence, saying that they would have pleaded guilty to anything considering the torture they suffered through [Guardian report; CBC backgrounder on William Sampson]. Last October, Britain's appeals court overruled [opinion] the State Immunity Act of 1978 [text], effectively forbidding blanket immunity for foreign officials in countries accused of serious crimes, such as torture. The appeals court also ordered Riyadh to pay the cost of the appeals for the men, believed to be over 100,000 pounds. Human Rights Watch [advocacy website] has repeatedly tagged Saudi Arabia as a country who denies fundamental rights to criminal suspects [press release]. AFP has more.






Link |  | print | subscribe | RSS feeds | latest newscast | Facebook page

For more legal news check the Paper Chase Archive...


LATEST LEGAL NEWS

 New Bolivia law allows president to run for third term
4:08 PM ET, May 21

 Guatemala court voids ex-dictator Rios Montt's genocide conviction
3:37 PM ET, May 21

 UN urges Afghanistan to approve women's rights legislation
9:02 AM ET, May 21

 click for more...

Get JURIST legal news delivered daily to your e-mail!

LATEST FORUM

The War on Terror and the Need for Muslim Support
DOMESTIC
Faisal Kutty
Valparaiso University Law School

ABOUT

Paper Chase is JURIST's real-time legal news service, powered by a team of 30 law student reporters and editors led by law professor Bernard Hibbitts at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. As an educational service, Paper Chase is dedicated to presenting important legal news and materials rapidly, objectively and intelligibly in an accessible, ad-free format.

CONTACT

Paper Chase welcomes comments, tips and URLs from readers. E-mail us at JURIST@jurist.org