Yvonne Ridley Wins Al-Jazeera Damages

YVONNE RIDLEY, the former Express journalist who was captured by the Taliban in Afghanistan, has been awarded nearly £14,000 in damages after winning a four-year unfair dismissal case against Arabic TV station al-Jazeera.

Ridley was sacked from her job as an editor on the Doha-based channel in November 2003 and launched an unfair dismissal case.

After working its way through the Qatari court system, including several appeals from al-Jazeera, the supreme court, Qatar's highest court, ruled in Ridley's favour in what she described as "quite a landmark case".

Ridley was awarded 100,000 Qatari riyals, which equates to around £13,885.

However, the length of the case meant that, as the riyal is pegged to the US dollar, her damages have lost between two and three times their value in sterling from four years ago.

The National Union of Journalists part-funded Ridley's case but when her money ran out her Lebanese-born lawyer, Gebran Majdalany, worked for free.

Ridley told MediaGuardian.co.uk that the case was not about the damages and that she would be donating part of her award to the NUJ.

"It was never about the money. I just wanted to clear my name professionally. This could all have been sorted out with an apology. That is the irony of it. I am just relieved it is over," she said.

"I don't hold a grudge against the station and I have got a lot of admiration for the journalists on the ground, but there are elements in the management who should not be there."

Ridley claimed she was dismissed after complaining about the removal of stories she had published about the behaviour of US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan on al-Jazeera's English-language website.

She had also campaigned for better pay for Asian and Arab journalists at the broadcaster and was in the process of setting up an al-Jazeera branch of the NUJ.

A spokesman for al-Jazeera in Doha declined to comment to MediaGuardian.co.uk on Ridley's case.

Ridley hit the headlines when she was held captive by the Taliban in Afghanistan while on assignment with the Sunday Express in 2001.

She subsequently converted to Islam and now works for the Iranian-based 24-hour English language news channel PressTV, where she fronts her own London-based current affairs show, The Agenda.

Ridley is also currently awaiting a decision in a second employment tribunal against another previous employer, the Islam Channel, where she has alleged sex and religious discrimination.

The case, which is again being part-funded by the NUJ, was held in London last month with a verdict due soon.

Al-Jazeera has been hit by a string of claims of poor morale amongst staff recently.

The Arabic language news broadcaster is also currently fighting another employment tribunal, this time in London, involving the former al-Jazeera English head of planning, Jo Burgin, who is claiming sex, race and religious discrimination.

Burgin has been given leave to continue with her claim, although her claim for unfair dismissal ended after the London tribunal ruled it did not have jurisdiction. Her allegations are being contested by al-Jazeera.