Freed Terror Suspect Seeks $10 Million From U.S.
We haven't seen this reported in very many American papers, but it is all over the European press. A terror suspect arrested and jailed in Great Britain for five months as a result of a U.S. extradition request has sued the U.S. and the F.B.I. for $10 Million in Damages :
A pilot who spent five months in a British jail accused of training Sept. 11 hijackers has filed $10 million claims against both the FBI and U.S. Justice Department for ruining his life, his lawyer said Tuesday.
Lotfi Raissi, a British-based Algerian who studied at a flight school in Arizona, was arrested in London 10 days after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and held at the high-security Belmarsh prison.
Washington accused Raissi, 29, of training some of the hijackers. But he was later cleared of wrongdoing by a British judge, who said U.S. officials had failed to present any evidence to back up accusations that he had links to terrorism.
Lawyer Jules Carey in London said Raissi's legal team had filed claims with the Justice Department and the FBI in the United States seeking damages for wrongful prosecution and imprisonment. Even though the allegations against him were proved false, no airline will now employ Raissi as a pilot, Carey said.
"The consequences for Mr Raissi have been utterly ruinous," he said. "His entire life, both personal and professional has been blighted by the allegations and it is time for the US and UK authorities to acknowledge their part in his undoing."
The Sunday Mirror reported on the case (3/4/03, available on Lexis.com):
Last year the US accused Lotfi Raissi, an Algerian pilot living in Britain, of being the "lead instructor" of the 9/11 hijackers. There was, said the FBI, video evidence and telephone records to back up their case and Raissi could face the death penalty. But then nothing, no evidence was produced and after months in custody he was freed.
The Guardian reported on the details of the U.S. case against Raissi (7/4/03, available on Lexis.com):
According to Amnesty International: "The US authorities' reasons for seeking Lotfi Raissi's extradition included the fact that his identity and profession fit a certain profile: an Algerian man and a Muslim, a pilot and a flight instructor in the USA." So what if he's not guilty. He just has to look the part.
The case sounded familiar to us, and we remembered that we too had commented on the case during Mr. Raissi's imprisonment, agreeing with the British Courts decision to release him on bail, over the objections of the U.S. The U.S. had gone to great lengths to argue to the British court that he should remain behind bars. The case was continued a few times while the Court gave the U.S. more time to produce evidence against Raissi, which it was never able to do.
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