Britons to sue Saudis over 'imprisonment and torture'

Published on Tuesday 24 February 2004 00:00

TWO Britons who were imprisoned in Saudi Arabia following a spate of bombings and made to confess to them have made a claim for damages against their alleged torturers, it was revealed last night.

Lawyers acting for Sandy Mitchell, who is originally from Kirkintilloch, near Glasgow, and Les Walker, said the two and a fellow inmate, Bill Sampson, a Canadian, were now suing their captors and had made a claim in the High Court.

The men, who spent more than two-and-a-half years in a jail outside Riyadh, the Saudi capital, want compensation from two of their interrogators and also the deputy governor of the prison and a government minister.

They were among seven Britons imprisoned following a series of bomb attacks which killed an American and a Briton, and which the Saudis blamed on ex-pat alcohol dealers. The attacks are now widely believed to have been the work of Islamic militants.

Mr Mitchell, and Mr Sampson were imprisoned in al-Ha’ir prison in December 2000, following the death of another Briton, Christopher Rodway, in a bomb attack a month earlier.

Interrogators were said to have used axe handles and iron bars to extract a confession from Mr Mitchell.

Mark Emery, a solicitor at Bindman and Partners, would not say how much was being sought in what is expected to be a multi-million pound claim.

But he said: "We are not saying we are not suing the state. It is certainly possible we are going to sue the state.

"We are very much of the opinion that might [occur] at some point.

"The men are coping but they have been through a horrendous experience. Without a shadow of doubt, they are innocent.

"There are questions over the status of their convictions - whether they were pardoned and released. That is something we would like to clarify," he added.