A retired police officer declared he had finally secured justice for a colleague shot dead outside Libya’s embassy in London 37 years ago after a former aide to Col Muammar Qaddafi was found jointly liable for her shooting.
Police Constable Yvonne Fletcher, 25, was killed from a gun fired from a window of the embassy as she was policing a demonstration against the former Libyan leader in 1984.
John Murray, 66, promised his dying colleague that he would find those responsible and brought a civil claim for a nominal £1 ($1.34) against Saleh Ibrahim Mabrouk as part of a decades-long battle for justice for his former colleague.
Mr Murray accepted that the Libyan – part of a Qaddafi loyalist group - did not fire any shots but was instrumental in orchestrating the plan to use violence against the student protest.
The judge, Martin Spencer, said he was “satisfied on the balance of probabilities that there existed a common design to respond to the planned anti-Qaddafi protest by using violence”.
In a ruling at London’s High Court, the judge said that Mr Mabrouk was an “active participant” in a plot to fire on the demonstrators.
Mr Mabrouk, who remained in Libya for the three-day trial last week, had denied having anything to do with the shooting and claimed he had been arrested three hours before the shooting.
He was arrested in 2015 in the UK, where he owned a home, but two years later police said charges could not be brought because key evidence had been kept secret to protect national security. He was the only person ever to be arrested in connection with the case.
The 30 people inside the building at the time of the shooting were allowed to leave after an 11-day siege and were expelled from the country under diplomatic protection.
Libya admitted responsibility in 1999 and agreed to pay compensation to Ms Fletcher's family.
Mr Murray said the ruling represented a huge step forward in finding those responsible for the shooting. “The Government's interference in the judicial process was disgraceful. We have faced many obstacles to get here. But, today, we have proven that we were right all along,” he said.
“Saleh Ibrahim Mabrouk was responsible for Yvonne's death. Everything we have done leading up to this verdict has been for Yvonne. Today we have finally achieved justice for Yvonne."
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Biography
Her family: She has four sons, aged 29, 27, 25 and 24 and is a grandmother-of-nine
Favourite book: Flashes of Thought by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid
Favourite drink: Water
Her hobbies: Reading and volunteer work
Favourite music: Classical music
Her motto: I don't wait, I initiate
Tonight's Chat on The National
Tonight's Chat is a series of online conversations on The National. The series features a diverse range of celebrities, politicians and business leaders from around the Arab world.
Tonight’s Chat host Ricardo Karam is a renowned author and broadcaster with a decades-long career in TV. He has previously interviewed Bill Gates, Carlos Ghosn, Andre Agassi and the late Zaha Hadid, among others. Karam is also the founder of Takreem.
Intellectually curious and thought-provoking, Tonight’s Chat moves the conversation forward.
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Match info
Huddersfield Town 0
Chelsea 3
Kante (34'), Jorginho (45' pen), Pedro (80')
Huroob Ezterari
Director: Ahmed Moussa
Starring: Ahmed El Sakka, Amir Karara, Ghada Adel and Moustafa Mohammed
Three stars
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
Things Heard & Seen
Directed by: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini
Starring: Amanda Seyfried, James Norton
2/5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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United States
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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5
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Schedule:
Friday, January 12: Six fourball matches
Saturday, January 13: Six foursome (alternate shot) matches
Sunday, January 14: 12 singles
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
