JEDDAH, 11 July 2003 — The European Court of Justice has decided to assign five judges to consider the case filed by prominent Saudi businessman Yassin Al-Qadi against the European Union for freezing his assets in the EU, legal sources said.

Al-Qadi has taken his legal battle to the European Court of Justice and applied to the court to void an EU Commission regulation and an EU Council regulation freezing his assets in the European Union. His assets were frozen after his name appeared among others whose assets were impounded under a Security Council resolution on suspicion of financing the Al-Qaeda organization following the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.

The sources said the decision to refer the matter to five judges signaled the importance attached by the court to Al-Qadi’s case. Five is the maximum number of judges the European Court of Justice can assign to the review of a case. Most cases are assigned three judges.

In his application, Al-Qadi demanded the court annul the decision to freeze his assets on the ground that being one block made up of several countries the EU was not authorized to implement Security Council resolutions, which are for individual states to deal with.

Another reason is that EU laws do not provide for appeals and thus lack an independent mechanism that could objectively look into the allegations cited by the EU in its decision to freeze the assets.

“This is a groundbreaking case that will benefit everyone who is in a position such as mine and that is positive,” Al-Qadi told Arab News.

“That position,” Al-Qadi added “was being wrongfully accused and having my assets frozen, without any way of reversing that decision.”

Al-Qadi expects the proceedings to start after the summer. The selection of the judges and their decision on the matter will all happen on the same day.

A team of lawyers representing Al-Qadi intensively investigated the businessman’s trading and charity activities in various countries and concluded Al-Qadi had nothing to do with Al-Qaeda or Osama Bin Laden.

Al-Qadi is said to be in constant contact with the authorities in the United States in an attempt to convince them to take his name off the list of individuals suspected of financing terrorism and lift the freeze on his assets.

He has repeatedly denied any link with individual terrorists or groups.