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LONDON (AP) — A lawsuit against former U.K. Foreign Secretary Jack Straw brought by an ex-Libyan dissident who alleges he and his wife were abducted and sent to Tripoli with British complicity can proceed, Britain's Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.
Abdel Hakim Belhaj and his wife, Fatima Boudchar, allege they were detained in southeast Asia in 2004 and sent to Libya to be interrogated by the regime of late dictator Moammar Gadhafi. They accuse British officials of complicity in their alleged mistreatment by U.S. intelligence and Libyan authorities.
The British government argued that the claims should be barred under state immunity and the foreign "act of state" doctrine, which prohibits the courts of one country sitting in judgment of another country's government for acts within its own territory.
But the Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that "state immunity is no bar to the claims" and rejected the government's request to block the suit against Straw and former senior MI6 officer Mark Allen.
The couple has offered to settle their lawsuit for a token payment of 1 pound ($1.23) from each defendant, an apology and an admission of liability.
The British government paid more than 2 million pounds in 2012 to settle a claim from another Libyan who was imprisoned under similar circumstances.
It was one of a series of costly payouts resulting from Britain's involvement in the U.S.-led "war on terror" in the years after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
Straw, who was foreign secretary between 2001 and 2006, denies any complicity in illegal rendition.
"I acted at all times in a manner which was fully consistent with my legal duties, and with national and international law," he said.
Belhaj said he felt gratified there would now be a trial.
"I continue to hope justice will one day be done — not just for my family, but in the name of everyone wrongly kidnapped in the war on terror," he said.
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