Five women are allowed to sue Qatar Airways after a forced examination

Five women are allowed to sue Qatar Airways after a forced examination

Brisbane, Australia - Five Australian women have won the right to sue Qatar Airways after they were forced to carry out invasive physical studies on the airport site of Doha in 2020. A federal court confirmed its complaint.

background of the incident

The identity of women remains anonymous. According to their lawyer, they were removed from flights together with dozens of other passengers and physical examinations were found after a newborn baby was found at the Hamad International Airport.

The then Qatar government said that this measure was taken after a little girl was wrapped in plastic and found hidden in the garbage - a "shocking and terrifying" act. The authorities apologized for the inconvenience that have arisen to the passengers.

international outrage and legal steps

The incident came across indignation internationally and was convicted by Australia's then foreign minister at the time as "great disturbing and worrying". It is still unclear how many women have been examined overall; The five Australian women were part of 13 passengers who were removed from the Qatar Airways flight 908 to Sydney. A spokesman for the Australian government reported that up to 10 flights were affected.

court decision and possible compensation

On Thursday, a body of three judges of the Australian Federal Court unanimously judged that the original judge had made a mistake in the event by "rejected" at short notice the relevance of the Montreal Convention, which regulated the liability of airlines. "Our clients are overjoyed with the result," said her lawyer Damian Sturzaker from Marque Lawyers.

he added: "They use the scars, not only from what happened that evening, but also from the fact that there was no excuse, no compensation and the case was fought by different state bodies for several years." According to Article 17 of the Montreal Convention, a carrier is responsible for damage due to death or violations of passengers that occur on board an aircraft or when getting on or out.

allegations against Qatar Airways and the airport

The windows of these women are still available for a basis for negligence against Qatar Airways, which could increase the possible amount of damages. CNN contacted Qatar Airways. The women had also tried to raise allegations for negligence, assault, false detention and assault against the airport operator Matar and the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority (QCAA).

The judgment on Thursday suspended her lawsuit against the QCAA, but allowed them to change aspects of their complaint against Matar. Sturzaker explained that the reasons for the QCAA decision are examined to see whether there are opportunities to appeal in the Australian Supreme Court.

further legal steps and responsibility

Sturzaker emphasized that it is still unclear who ordered the searches and that this will be one of the information that the lawyers want to obtain during the procedure. "We have no perfect insight into responsibility, and this is one of the things we want to clarify, since many of the documents we have requested have not been provided," said Sturzker.

After the incident, a Qatar prosecutor said that an indefinite number of airport employees who was responsible for the implementation of the investigations were charged. In the same explanation it was announced that the baby's mother was identified and accused of attempted murder after leaving the country and was only described as a "Asian" origin.

cultural contexts and future developments

In Qatar, sex outside of marriage remains a criminal offense, which is why it is not unusual that women expose children to avoid prison terms. Sturzaker described the Qatarian reaction to the abandoned baby as "completely disproportionate". "This is not something you would see at an airport that you normally want to travel to," he said.

The lawsuit is expected to come to court next year.