German sues Macedonia over capture, torture (by the CIA)

[sabra]

Source: Welt Online

A German man of Lebanese descent who says he was kidnapped and tortured by the CIA has sued Macedonia for 50,000 euros, saying their agents wrongly imprisoned and abused him. The civil lawsuit was the latest international legal battle by Khaled el-Masri, who said he was abducted in Macedonia 2003 and later flown to Afghanistan and tortured.

Masri had previously lost a U.S. lawsuit against the CIA and others in which he sought at least $75,000 -- slightly more than the amount sought from Macedonia.

He was eventually released in Albania months later.

The case drew wide attention to the Central Intelligence Agency’s extraordinary rendition under former U.S. President George Bush. Under that secret programme, terrorism suspects were sent from one foreign country to another for interrogation.

"We are asking for damages for the time that he spent here, for the torture he suffered here in Macedonia for 24 days,“ Filip Medarski, his lawyer in Macedonia, said in a telephone interview. "We are asking for 50,000 euros.“

"The court does not give large amounts for such things.“

Read more: http://www.welt.de/english-news/article3093858/German-sues-Macedonia-over-capture-torture.html

[Solly Mack]

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