Qatar threatens witnesses: Evidence confirms Doha's financing of Nusra Front

The Emirate of Qatar continues to support and finance
terrorism through its support for terrorist organizations, including the Nusra
Front. The Times revealed what it described as a criminal conspiracy weaved by
Qatar in order to corrupt British justice by intimidating witnesses, providing
bribes and planting illegal tracking devices, with the aim of concealing Doha’s
secret funding to the Nusra Front in Syria. It was reported that, at the
request of the Supreme Court, counterterrorism police in Britain have opened an
investigation into Qatar threatening witnesses in a case against Doha Bank for
financing terrorist groups in Syria, including the Nusra Front.
The Guardian reported that witnesses and plaintiffs in the
case have been subjected to intimidation by Qatari officials.
Four of the plaintiffs have even withdrawn from the lawsuit
due to the continuous threats they face, according to the Guardian.
The Qatari threats were discussed during a hearing in London
on Wednesday in a case related to a compensation lawsuit filed by eight Syrian
refugees against Doha Bank, which has a headquarters and branches in London.
Ben Emmerson, who is representing four of the Syrian
refugees before the Supreme Court, said, “Interference with justice has taken
the form of harassment, intimidation, pressure, illegal secret surveillance
abroad, threats from armed and masked men during the night, and attempted
bribery.”
The plaintiffs said they fled to the Netherlands after the
Nusra Front, which controls parts of northern Syria, destroyed their homes and
threatened them.
They are suing Doha Bank because it was used to transfer
funds to the terrorist group, which is banned in the United Kingdom, but the
bank has denied wrongdoing.
Emmerson said that London’s Metropolitan Police Counter
Terrorism Command (CTC) had received details of a campaign of intimidation
involving attempts to pervert the course of justice in both the UK and the
Netherlands.
The court heard the facts, which included attempts to bribe,
monitor and harass witnesses, and it said that “all these practices were
carried out with orders from the State of Qatar.”
The Qataris are trying to identify the people who filed the
lawsuit against Doha Bank, as they are protected by anonymity orders in order
to preserve their safety.