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Baroness Helena Kennedy QC and Steven Powles QC join international team of lawyers to represent Remi Rouhani

Two members of Doughty Street International, Baroness Helena Kennedy QC and Steven Powles QC, join an international team of lawyers to represent Remi Rouhani who is the victim of an unfair prosecution in Qatar.

Remi Rouhani is a member of the Baha’i community in Qatar, a community whose members have been the victims of increasing pressure at the hands of the Qatari authorities to leave Qatar. The Baha’i community has long existed in Qatar, even before the country gained independence. The Qatari authorities have now been systematically targeting Baha’is for many years leading to the risk of the eradication of yet another religious minority community from a Middle Eastern country.

Remi Rouhani, a prominent former director of the Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry, was charged and ultimately tried for allegedly collecting charitable contributions without a permit. He was convicted in his absence and sentenced to 6 months imprisonment and fined. There is no basis to the allegations, and it is clear that the Qatari authorities have brought this criminal case to put pressure on Remi Rouhani and his family, adding to the many Baha’i families that have already been forced to leave Qatar.

The matter will now be heard on appeal by Qatar’s highest court, the Court of Cassation, on 2 November 2021. Baroness Kennedy QC and Steven Powles QC have been instructed by his legal team to monitor the proceedings, to highlight the serious violations of international standards of due process in this case and to consider raising the matter at the international level.