World Cup Shifts Focus to Qatar, but Not All Scrutiny Is Positive

With the start of the globe’s most closely followed sporting event approaching, scrutiny of the World Cup’s host, Qatar, is increasing. That glare now encompasses legal peril: On Monday, Doha will be on the docket at a London court on allegations of financing terrorist groups. The case, Hashwah & Others. v. Qatar National Bank & 17 Others, brought by nine Syrian victims of terrorism, accuses Qatar of abetting an Islamist terrorist group, the Al-Nusra Front. The case will be heard in the Commercial Court of England and Wales. Qatar has long been accused of backing various Islamist groups in the Mideast and beyond. A long-time supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Gulf emirate hosts aid groups that America and others label as terrorists. The 2019 claim at the high court at London alleges that the Doha government has played a central role in a money-laundering scheme to send hundreds of millions of dollars to terrorist outfits. The plaintiffs allege that “high-ranking members of the Qatari ruling elite” provided funds to “actively support and facilitate” terrorist groups such as Al-Nusra in the Syrian civil war. They will present evidence that Qatar National Bank transferred $800,000 to a Syrian lawyer affiliated with Al-Nusra, Fadhel al Salim. The suit further accuses the country’s central bank, a former Qatari prime minister, Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani, and the owner of London’s Ritz hotel, Abdulhadi Mana al-Hajri, of involvement in the operation. At the moment there are three cases in the London court that allege that Qatar supported Al-Nusra financially.The former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno Ocampo, who now represents 15 alleged victims of the Al-Nusra Front before the United Nations, says more than 12 million Syrians were displaced during the war, and more than half of these people became refugees.In public statements, Qatar’s government has acknowledged its relationship with Hamas and Al-Nusra Front, but the emir has claimed immunity on actions during his time in power. A Doha Bank representative, Hannah Brown, doubled down on that position. She said to the court that all of the defendants “are prima facie entitled to rely upon the State immunity of Qatar on the agency basis,” and affirmed that “State immunity does apply to alleged acts of terrorism financing.”According to the United Kingdom’s State Immunity Act of 1978, heads of state are immune to civil and criminal charges while they are in office and even after exiting cannot face criminal prosecutions for actions performed while they were part of the government. According to the act, the law extends to separate entities if they act under the authority of the government. According to a briefing paper from Trial International and the Open Society Justice Initiative, though, “the issue of immunity” has been raised repeatedly, including in cases targeting Chile’s Augusto Pinochet and Colonel Kumar Lama of Nepal. Courts determined that they were not entitled to immunity regarding allegations of torture. Mr. Moreno Ocampo, told the Sun that the London court is intervening as the Qatar National Bank England office allegedly was involved in the operation, which is said to offer a jurisdictional hook. Qatar National Bank and Doha Bank did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Sun.On October 18 a French company, Lafarge SA, pleaded guilty at the Eastern District of New York to giving two terrorist groups, ISIS and Al-Nusra Front, $10.24 million to keep a plant operating in Syria. The company must pay $777.8 million to resolve the American criminal charge. “Lafarge has admitted and taken responsibility for its staggering crime,” a U.S. attorney, Breon Peace, said in a statement. “Never before has a corporation been charged with providing material support and resources to foreign terrorist organizations.”Qatar is facing heat from other quarters, as well. Last week, the Argentine foreign minister asked the emir of Qatar to arrest the Iranian vice president for economic affairs, Mohsen Rezaei, who is accused of being involved in the 1994 terrorist attack on Buenos Aires’s Jewish community center, known as AMIA. According to local media, Qatar has not followed up with the Argentine government.On Monday, the English court will rule on Qatar’s claim of immunity. If it rejects the appeal, the case will continue.Mr. Moreno Ocampo tweeted: “For Al Nusra’s victims, the attention created by the #WorldCup could represent the last opportunity to receive some support to mitigate their suffering.”

World Cup Shifts Focus to Qatar, but Not All Scrutiny Is Positive

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