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"Lotfi Raissi, an Algerian pilot wrongly accused of training some of the September 11 hijackers, should be allowed to claim compensation, the high court ruled today.
"I wept with relief when I heard the judgment," Raissi said outside the court, following the decision. "I have always said I believed in British justice and I finally got it today."
Raissi said his wrongful arrest had ruined his life and left him blacklisted as a pilot and unable to work.
"They destroyed my life, they destroyed my career. For this I will never, ever forgive them.
"I abhor terrorism in any shape or form."
The Ministry of Justice said it was considering whether to appeal.
Raissi was arrested in London 10 days after the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington and accused of being the main flight instructor of four of the hijackers, including the suspected ringleader, Mohammed Atta.
His name had been on an FBI watchlist and he became the first person to be accused of participating in the attacks. After five months as a category A prisoner in Belmarsh high security prison, in south-east London, he was released when a judge ruled there was no evidence whatsoever to connect him with terrorism.
A video the FBI claimed showed Raissi with Hani Hanjour, one of the hijackers, was revealed in court to be footage of him with his cousin. The government refused to compensate him for wrongful arrest and imprisonment and claims the British authorities were acting properly on an American request."
Pilot cleared of 9/11 role can claim compensation | World news | guardian.co.uk
"I wept with relief when I heard the judgment," Raissi said outside the court, following the decision. "I have always said I believed in British justice and I finally got it today."
Raissi said his wrongful arrest had ruined his life and left him blacklisted as a pilot and unable to work.
"They destroyed my life, they destroyed my career. For this I will never, ever forgive them.
"I abhor terrorism in any shape or form."
The Ministry of Justice said it was considering whether to appeal.
Raissi was arrested in London 10 days after the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington and accused of being the main flight instructor of four of the hijackers, including the suspected ringleader, Mohammed Atta.
His name had been on an FBI watchlist and he became the first person to be accused of participating in the attacks. After five months as a category A prisoner in Belmarsh high security prison, in south-east London, he was released when a judge ruled there was no evidence whatsoever to connect him with terrorism.
A video the FBI claimed showed Raissi with Hani Hanjour, one of the hijackers, was revealed in court to be footage of him with his cousin. The government refused to compensate him for wrongful arrest and imprisonment and claims the British authorities were acting properly on an American request."
Pilot cleared of 9/11 role can claim compensation | World news | guardian.co.uk
