US court fines North Korea for its role in airport massacre
The US Federal District court in Puerto Rico has fined North Korea $378 million for its role in the 1972 Lod Airport massacre (the airport's name was subsequently changed to Ben Gurion Airport). In a ruling delivered Friday, US District Court Judge Francisco Besosa in Puerto Rico found North Korea liable for its role in providing material support to the Japanese Red Army and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which killed 26 people and wounded more than 80 others in a shooting spree at Lod Airport, now Ben- Gurion Airport.If only it could be collected....
Many of those killed were tourists from Puerto Rico, including Carmelo Calderon- Molina. His family, along with that of Pablo Tirado-Ayala, who was wounded in the attack, brought the suit in 2006.
“It’s very significant, since it’s the first judgment against North Korea,” said Israeli lawyer Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, who represented the families.
She said the case was motivated in part as a protest against the US’s removing North Korea from its statesponsors- of-terror list, adding that she hoped this would encourage the government to reconsider its decision, since the ruling demonstrated that North Korea “is involved with terrorism.”
Darshan-Leitner acknowledged that it was very unlikely the families would recoup the $78m. in compensatory damages and $300m. in punitive damages awarded by the court, short of a US-North Korea reconciliation in which restitution was part of the conditions for rapprochement. But she said she would seek North Korean assets in the US that could be seized and other means of obtaining some of the owed money in the meantime.
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:45 AM
2 Comments:
Lawfare can be employed not only against Israel but against regimes that back its enemies. Its a two way street. Expect to see more of this in the future.
"The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated."
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