Algerian pilot Lotfi Raissi, who was put in jail for five months after he was wrongly accused of involvement in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, will receive compensation from British government.
Lotfi was arrested 10 days after the 9/11 attacks, and was put in a maximum security prison as U.S. police thought he has links to the hijacker who crashed an airliner into the Pentagon. But he was later released as the case against him proved to be false.
Ruling the allegations were unsubstantiated, a British court dismissed the accusations against Lotfi after his arrest and the pilot began his bid for compensation. This was rejected by the British government in 2004 but four years later, the Court of Appeal ordered ministers to reconsider saying the way extradition proceedings and refusal of bail had been conducted amounted to “an abuse of process”.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice confirmed that he would now receive compensation after the court gave the government 28 days to decide what action it would take.
“In accordance with the decisions of the Court of Appeal…and after careful consideration of all the relevant material available to him, the Justice Secretary Jack Straw has notified Mr Raissi that he is eligible for compensation,” a spokesman said. An independent assessor will consider how much he should be paid.
“This is one of the best days of my life. I am completely exonerated now by the Ministry of Justice and I am delighted,” he told BBC TV. “My life was destroyed, my career was destroyed. It was hell for me for the last nine years. I suffered discrimination, I suffered racism, my life wasn’t safe”. “I was fighting for justice. What I want at the end of it is an apology,” Lotfi said.
[Source: BBC]
Add a comment
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|