Community Corner
Bellevue Man Awarded $3M in Torture Suit Against Somali Ex-Prime Minister
Aziz Deria of Bellevue, was one of seven plaintiffs who split a $21 million civil lawsuit against former Somali Prime Minister Mohamed Ali Samantar, now of Virginia.
A Bellevue man was one of seven plaintiffs who split a $21 million civil lawsuit against former Somali Prime Minister Mohamed Ali Samantar, claiming that he ordered the torture and killing under dictator Siad Barre's regime, according to the Associated Press.
Aziz Deria of Bellevue told the Associated Press that he was not expecting to see his $3 million share of the suit, but that the ruling by a U.S. Judge Leonie Brinkema holds Samantar, now 76, responsible for the killings and torture that went on under Barre's dictatorship, which collapsed in 1991. Barre died in exile in Nigeria in 1995, according to the New York Times.
The suit, filed originally in 2004, is already under appeal to consider whether Samantar should have been awarded immunity as a state official, according to the Associated Press article.
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Samantar has been living in Fairfax in suburban Washington, D.C., after being granted asylum in 1997, according to an ABC News Report.
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Associated Press: $21M awarded in torture suit against ex-Somali PM
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