Chiswick woman loses claim against wrongful arrest and false imprisonment

Chiswick resident and wife of the pilot falsely accused of involvement in the 9/11 terror attacks has had her claim for damages rejected by a High Court.

Sonia Raissi, whose Algerian husband Lofti was held in jail for five months, was seeking damages in excess of £150,000 in a High Court action against the Metropolitan Police.

In this latest ruling, Mr Justice McCombe said the decision to arrest her was justified. "It must have been reasonable to suspect that if Lotfi was possibly involved, she too might be complicit in the offences," he said.

However, her brother in law, Mohamed, who lives in Hounslow, was granted compensation on the grounds that his arrest went no further than the family relationship and the fact that the two men lived near one another. "In my judgment those grounds were not sufficient to justify his arrest," said the judge.

The amount of compensation he will receive will be determined at a future hearing.

Lofti Raissi, who was the first person accused of participating in the attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon, lost his claim for compensation in the High Court earlier this year.

The three were arrested at gunpoint 10 days after the September 11th attacks. Lofti Raissi was released on bail in February 2002 and exonerated by a judge who ruled that there was no evidence against him.

December 11, 2007