Four British men who claim they were tortured in Saudi Arabian prisons after being arrested for a series of anti-Western bombings have won a partial victory in their battle for compensation. The men were told by the Court of Appeal that they could not sue the Saudi government but could pursue their actions against the jailors who allegedly abused them. The appeal judges upheld a High Court ruling against Ron Jones, 51, which struck out his £2 million compensation plea because the Riyadh authorities had diplomatic immunity in Britain. However, they ruled that there was no blanket immunity for Saudi officials, clearing the way for the men to sue two interrogators and the deputy governor of the jail where they were held.
The Master of the Rolls, Lord Phillips, sitting with Lord Justice Mance and Lord Justice Neuberger, said in his judgment: "It can no longer be appropriate to give blanket effect to a foreign state's claim to state immunity ... in respect of a state official alleged to have committed acts of systematic torture."They refused to allow Mr Jones's appeal, but said a request to sue the jailors made by Sandy Mitchell, of Glasgow, Les Walker, of the Wirral, and Bill Sampson, a British-Canadian citizen who lives in Perth, would be sent back to the High Court. Mr Jones, of Crawley, Sussex, said: "I am delighted with the ruling. As far as I am concerned the torturers are the Saudi government - they are employees of the government." | And Saudi employees don't do anything without the boss's OK. |
The men were arrested in the wake of the bomb attacks in 2001 in which a British and American worker were killed. The group was accused of being part of a turf war between expatriate alcohol dealers. | Yeah, yeah, we know, the whole damm kingdom was being overrun with alk dealers. |
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