LONDON, 24 May 2003 — The government of Saudi Arabia asked Britain’s High Court yesterday to throw out a damages suit by a British accountant who says he was tortured in a Saudi detention center. Saudi authorities deny the allegations
Ron Jones, from Hamilton in southern Scotland, was detained by Saudi authorities for 67 days after a bomb attack in Riyadh, in March 2001.
Joanna Pollard, representing the Saudi government, told yesterday’s hearing that a sovereign government was immune from prosecution in another country.
“This hearing is solely about the English courts’ jurisdiction over a foreign sovereign state,” Pollard told the court.
Pollard said because the alleged actions against Jones had taken place in Saudi Arabia, not Britain, the British courts had no jurisdiction in the case.
Jones, 49, who attended yesterday’s hearing with his wife Sandra, said he would fight to be heard. Jones was one of several Westerners arrested following a series of explosions in Saudi Arabia, starting in November 2000, that killed an American and a Briton.
News reports said Jones is seeking damages of up to 2 million pounds ($3.2 million). Crystal said Jones had been diagnosed with severe post-traumatic stress disorder and depression and could no longer work. Jones was given amnesty.
The high court reserved judgment until a later date.
