Latest news with #Matar
The Independent
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Australian women win right to sue Qatar Airways over bodily searches
Five Australian women who were forcibly removed from a Qatar Airways flight and subjected to invasive physical exams at Doha airport in 2020 have won the right to sue the airline directly. A federal court overturned a previous ruling that dismissed their case. According to their lawyer, the women, whose names remain confidential, were among dozens of women taken off multiple flights and subjected to nonconsensual bodily searches after a newborn was found abandoned at the Hamad International Airport in Doha in October 2020. The five Australian women were ordered off Qatar Airways flight 908 to Sydney and taken to ambulances on the tarmac where nurses conducted physical examinations without their consent. 'She told me to pull my pants down and that [she] needed to examine my vagina,' one woman said at the time. 'I said, 'I'm not doing that', and she didn't explain anything to me. She just kept saying, 'We need to see it, we need to see it'.' The incident triggered global outrage and was condemned by Australia's then foreign minister as a 'grossly disturbing, offensive, concerning set of events.' An Australian government spokesperson said at the time that up to 10 flights could have been affected by the searches. The five women had sought to sue Qatar Airways for damages related to 'unlawful physical contact' and pursued claims of assault and false imprisonment and battery against the airport operator, Matar, and the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority. But federal court judge John Halley dismissed the case against the airline and the aviation regulator ruling that the alleged assaults took place off the plane and were not carried out by airline staff. He described the idea that airline staff could have intervened as 'fanciful, trifling, implausible, improbable, and tenuous'. The women appealed to the full federal court, comprising a panel of three judges, arguing the invasive searches occurred during the process of disembarkation and that the airline should therefore be held liable. The full court agreed, ruling on Thursday that Justice Halley had erred in summarily dismissing the women's claims. 'There is no sufficiently high degree of certainty that what happened to the appellants in the ambulance could not ultimately be found to have been in 'the course of any of the operations of embarking or disembarking'. It is therefore not an issue apt to be decided at the stage of summary dismissal,' Justice Angus Stewart said. 'It is also an error to conclude at this stage of the proceeding that Matar's duty of care cannot possibly extend to the circumstances in and around the ambulance.' The court ordered Qatar Airways and Matar to pay the costs of the appeal. At the time of the incident, the Qatari government defended its actions saying they were taken in response to the 'shocking and appalling attempt to kill' a newborn girl who was found wrapped in plastic and discarded in a bin at the airport. The measures were aimed at stopping the 'perpetrators' from fleeing the country, the authorities said while offering an apology for any distress caused to passengers. The total number of women subjected to the searches remains unclear. The Australian women were among 13 taken off Qatar Airways flight 908 alone. Damian Sturzaker, the lawyer for the five women, said they were happy with the decision. 'Our clients endured a traumatic experience on that night in Doha, and they deserve to have their day in court and compensation for their suffering,' he said, according to The Australian. The women had brought claims of negligence, assault and false imprisonment against Matar and the aviation regulator. While Thursday's ruling dismissed the case against the regulator, it allowed the women to amend and continue their case against Matar. Mr Sturzaker said they would review the court's reasoning to determine whether there was scope to appeal the decision regarding the regulator to Australia's High Court.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Yahoo
Australian women win right to sue Qatar Airways over invasive searches
Five Australian women who were strip-searched and invasively examined at Doha airport have won the right to sue Qatar Airways after an appeal. The women were ordered off a flight and checked for whether they had given birth after a baby was found abandoned in an airport bin in 2020 - an incident that sparked global outrage. An Australian judge last year found the state-owned airline could not be prosecuted under the laws governing global travel, and said the proposition its staff could have intervened was "fanciful, trifling, implausible, improbable, [and] tenuous". The women appealed, with the full bench of the Federal Court finding the primary judge erred in throwing out the case. The five women filed a lawsuit in 2021, against Qatar Airways, Qatar's Civil Aviation Authority and the operators of Hamad International Airport, a firm called Matar. They sought damages over the alleged "unlawful physical contact" and false imprisonment, which had caused mental health impacts including depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Other passengers who were invasively searched - including from the UK and New Zealand - were not part of the case. All three respondents applied to have the case thrown out before it reached trial. Justice John Halley in April 2024 found that Qatar Airways could not be held responsible under a multilateral treaty called the Montreal Convention, which is used to establish airline liability in the event of death or injury to passengers. Even if the airline could be sued, the women's case had no real prospect of success, he said: Qatar Airways staff could not have influenced the actions of Qatari police who removed the women from the flight, nor the nurses who examined them in ambulances on the tarmac. Justice Halley also struck out the women's case against Qatar's aviation regulator, saying it was immune from foreign prosecution, but said they could proceed with parts of their case against Matar. However, Justice Angus Stewart, Justice Debra Mortimer and Justice James Stellios found the primary judge had made rulings on issues that could only be decided at trial. They upheld Justice Halley's decision to throw out the case against Qatar's aviation regulator, but said the complainants had the right to sue both Qatar Airways and Matar. The case is now expected to continue to trial in the Federal Court, the women's lawyer Damian Sturzaker said. "Our clients endured a traumatic experience on that night in Doha and they deserve to have their day in court and compensation for their suffering," Mr Sturzaker said, according to The Australian. The women have previously told the BBC they did not consent to the examinations and were not given explanations for what was happening to them. "I felt like I had been raped," said British grandmother Mandy, who asked to withhold her surname. Another said she thought she was being kidnapped and held hostage. The Gulf state launched a criminal prosecution which led to a suspended jail term for an airport official. But Mr Sturzaker in 2021 told the BBC the women were suing because of a perceived lack of action from Doha. They wanted a formal apology from Qatar and for the airport to change its procedures to make sure the incident does not happen again.
BBC News
6 days ago
- BBC News
Australian women win right to sue Qatar Airways over invasive searches
Five Australian women who were strip-searched and invasively examined at Doha airport have won the right to sue Qatar Airways after an women were ordered off a flight and checked for whether they had given birth after a baby was found abandoned in an airport bin in 2020 - an incident that sparked global Australian judge last year found the state-owned airline could not be prosecuted under the laws governing global travel, and said the proposition its staff could have intervened was "fanciful, trifling, implausible, improbable, [and] tenuous".The women appealed, with the full bench of the Federal Court finding the primary judge erred in throwing out the case. The five women filed a lawsuit in 2021, against Qatar Airways, Qatar's Civil Aviation Authority and the operators of Hamad International Airport, a firm called sought damages over the alleged "unlawful physical contact" and false imprisonment, which had caused mental health impacts including depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Other passengers who were invasively searched - including from the UK and New Zealand - were not part of the three respondents applied to have the case thrown out before it reached John Halley in April 2024 found that Qatar Airways could not be held responsible under a multilateral treaty called the Montreal Convention, which is used to establish airline liability in the event of death or injury to if the airline could be sued, the women's case had no real prospect of success, he said: Qatar Airways staff could not have influenced the actions of Qatari police who removed the women from the flight, nor the nurses who examined them in ambulances on the Halley also struck out the women's case against Qatar's aviation regulator, saying it was immune from foreign prosecution, but said they could proceed with parts of their case against Justice Angus Stewart, Justice Debra Mortimer and Justice James Stellios found the primary judge had made rulings on issues that could only be decided at upheld Justice Halley's decision to throw out the case against Qatar's aviation regulator, but said the complainants had the right to sue both Qatar Airways and case is now expected to continue to trial in the Federal Court, the women's lawyer Damian Sturzaker said."Our clients endured a traumatic experience on that night in Doha and they deserve to have their day in court and compensation for their suffering," Mr Sturzaker said, according to The Australian. The women have previously told the BBC they did not consent to the examinations and were not given explanations for what was happening to them."I felt like I had been raped," said British grandmother Mandy, who asked to withhold her said she thought she was being kidnapped and held Gulf state launched a criminal prosecution which led to a suspended jail term for an airport Mr Sturzaker in 2021 told the BBC the women were suing because of a perceived lack of action from wanted a formal apology from Qatar and for the airport to change its procedures to make sure the incident does not happen again.
The Guardian
6 days ago
- The Guardian
Court grants leave for Australian women to sue Qatar Airways over alleged invasive physical examinations
Five Australian women who allege they were forced off a Qatar Airways plane by armed guards before some were intimately examined at Doha airport will be able to sue the airline directly, the federal court has ruled. The women launched an appeal in April last year hoping to overturn a ruling that the airline could not face trial for the October 2020 incident, when they were among more than a dozen women forcibly led from a Sydney-bound plane and escorted into ambulances. Four of the women underwent bodily examinations – three of which were invasive – without consent as part of a local investigation to find the mother of a newborn baby found abandoned in a bathroom in Hamad international airport. The infant survived. The episode sparked international outrage, with the women suing Qatar Airways Group, Qatar Civil Aviation Authority (QCAA) and Matar, the Qatari company responsible for airports operation and management, for negligence, assault, false imprisonment and battery. Sign up: AU Breaking News email But the case against the airline, in which they sought damages over alleged 'unlawful physical contact', was dismissed, with Justice John Halley finding that Qatar Airways should not have to go to trial because its employees could not have influenced the actions of Qatari police, who boarded the planes to remove the women. Halley also found that the QCAA was immune from the court's jurisdiction and determined that the five women could instead refile their claims for damages against Matar. The women lodged an appeal against the judgment, hoping to pursue Qatar Airways and the QCAA directly. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion On Thursday morning the federal chief justice, Angus Stewart, said the court found that Halley had 'erred' when he summarily dismissed the airline's claims that the invasive examinations had not taken place in 'the course of any of the operations of embarking or disembarking' the aircraft. 'There is no sufficiently high degree of certainty that what happened to the appellants in the ambulance could not ultimately be found to have been in 'the course of any of the operations of embarking or disembarking',' Stewart told the court. The issue could 'only be decided at trial and not on a summary basis'. He also found that Matar's application to set aside service should have been dismissed – and that its claim a nurse who had who performed the bodily examinations was not its employee was arguable. It was an 'error to conclude at this stage of the proceeding that Matar's duty of care cannot possibly extend to the circumstances in and around the ambulance', he ruled. He ordered Qatar Airways and Matar to pay the costs of the appeal. But the judge dismissed the women's appeal against the QCAA, telling the court the evidence showed management activities of the government-run authority 'were in pursuit of public functions of the State of Qatar'.
News18
04-06-2025
- General
- News18
Salman Rushdie 'Pleased' That Man Who Attempted To Kill Him Got Maximum 25-Year Sentence
Last Updated: The assailant, Hadi Matar, was sentenced in a New York court for the attempted murder of Rushdie. The attack left the British-Indian author blind in one eye Booker Prize-winning author Sir Salman Rushdie has said he is 'pleased" that the man who brutally attacked him on stage in 2022 has been handed the maximum sentence of 25 years in prison. The assailant, Hadi Matar, was sentenced in a New York court for the attempted murder of Rushdie. The attack left the British-Indian author blind in one eye. Rushdie later documented the event in his 2024 memoir, Knife. Judge David Foley delivered the verdict in Mayville, near where the stabbing occurred. Following the ruling, Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt expressed satisfaction. However, Matar's lawyer, Nathaniel Barone, confirmed that an appeal will be made. Speaking to BBC Radio 4 on Monday, Rushdie said, 'I was pleased that he got the maximum available, and I hope he uses it to reflect upon his deeds." In 1989, Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for Rushdie's death over alleged blasphemy in his novel The Satanic Verses. Following this, Rushdie went into hiding under British protection and later settled in New York, in the United States. The book was banned in 20 countries. Numerous killings and bombings have been carried out by extremists who cite the book as motivation, sparking a debate about censorship and religiously motivated violence. On August 12, 2022, while about to start a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, New York, Rushdie was attacked by Matar, who rushed onto the stage and stabbed him repeatedly, including in the face, neck, and abdomen. Matar was pulled away before being taken into custody by a state trooper; Rushdie was airlifted to UPMC Hamot, a tertiary trauma centre in Erie, Pennsylvania, where he underwent surgery before being put on a ventilator. On October 23, 2022, his agent reported that Rushdie had lost sight in one eye and the use of one hand but survived the murder attempt. Watch India Pakistan Breaking News on CNN-News18. Get breaking news, in-depth analysis, and expert perspectives on everything from geopolitics to diplomacy and global trends. Stay informed with the latest world news only on News18. Download the News18 App to stay updated! First Published:
