LONDON: A retired British police officer has won his civil legal battle to hold a former aide to Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi liable in the killing of a colleague shot dead outside the Libyan embassy almost 40 years ago.
Officer Yvonne Fletcher, 25, was killed while policing an anti-Qaddafi protest in April 1984. John Murray, 66, brought a civil claim against Saleh Ibrahim Mabrouk before the UK’s High Court, seeking a nominal amount of GBP1, in an attempt to get justice for his friend and colleague.
On Tuesday, the court ruled Mabrouk was jointly liable for the killing.
“We have finally achieved justice for Yvonne,” Murray said in a tearful statement after the ruling. “I am very relieved that it’s finally all over and the court has found in our favor.
“This has been a battle lasting 37 years. It is a huge weight off my shoulders. My promise to Yvonne Fletcher to find those responsible for the shooting and to get justice has taken a huge step forward after all these years.”
Murray made the promise to Fletcher as he held her in an ambulance during her dying moments.
“We have faced many obstacles to get here,” Murray added. “But, today, we have proven that we were right all along.
“Saleh Ibrahim Mabrouk was responsible for Yvonne’s death. Everything we have done leading up to this verdict has been for Yvonne. Today we have finally achieved justice for Yvonne.”
During the three-day trial in London, Murray’s legal team argued that although Mabrouk did not fire any of the shots that killed Fletcher, he was “instrumental” in her death through his “orchestration” of the violent response to the student protests.
Fletcher was killed by bullets fired from an embassy window while she worked at the protest. Murray’s lawyers argued that Mabrouk — said to be “fanatical” in his support for Qaddafi — had implemented a plan ordered by the Libyan leader himself to use violence to quell the protests.
Judge Martin Spencer told Murray that “those responsible for the shooting of Yvonne Fletcher also bear liability.”
The officer died as the result of a “cowardly attack,” the judge added. The gunmen fired on “unarmed and unsuspecting lawful demonstrators” and were “uncaring of the risk posed to police officers going about their normal duties,” he said.
In civil cases judgments are reached on the balance of probability, unlike in criminal cases, in which overwhelming probability must be proven to establish guilt.
“I am satisfied on the balance of probabilities that there existed a common design to respond to the planned anti-Gaddafi protest by using violence,” Spencer said.
The judge added that the evidence pointed to Mabrouk being an “active participant” in this plan.
“Mr. Murray has succeeded in showing that the defendant, Saleh Ibrahim Mabrouk, is jointly liable, with those who carried out the shooting of Yvonne Fletcher, for the battery inflicted upon her,” he said.
There seemed to be “little doubt” that the actions of the shooters were “orchestrated and sanctioned” by Qaddafi, who “could not tolerate dissent or disagreement,” Spencer added.