£2.2m payout for government complicity in Libyan rendition
Categories: Latest News
Thursday December 13 2012
The BBC covers breaking news that the British Government has made a £2.2 million payout to Sami al-Saadi, one of two Libyans who alleged UK complicity in his rendition to Gaddafi’s Libya and subsequent torture under detention.
From BBC News:
“There has been no comment so far from the Foreign Office. In a statement issued by his solicitors, Mr al-Saadi said: “My family suffered enough when they were kidnapped and flown to Gaddafi’s Libya.
“”They will now have the chance to complete their education in the new, free Libya. I will be able to afford the medical care I need because of the injuries I suffered in prison.
“”I started this process believing that a British trial would get to the truth in my case. But today, with the government trying to push through secret courts, I feel that to proceed is not best for my family.
“”I went through a secret trial once before, in Gaddafi’s Libya. In many ways, it was as bad as the torture. It is not an experience I care to repeat. Even now, the British government has never given an answer to the simple question: ‘Were you involved in the kidnap of me, my wife and my children?'”
“Sapna Malik, solicitor for the al-Saadi family at law firm Leigh Day, said: “The sheer terror experienced by the al-Saadi family when they were bundled on to their rendition flight and delivered up to their nemesis clearly lives with them all to this day.
“”Having concluded one part of their quest for justice, they now look to the British criminal courts to hold those responsible for their ordeal to account and await the judge-led inquiry they have been promised.”
“A second man, Abdul Hakim Belhaj, is continuing with his legal action against the British government and wants a trial in open court.”
The Government admitted earlier this year that “reputational and political costs” lay behind the proposals contained in the Justice and Security bill to extend the mandate for ‘closed material procedures’.