Europe: Terror clampdown on individuals' funds
Keith Nuthall writes in Accountancy Age:
The European Court of Justice has ruled that European Union (EU) institutions have the legal authority to freeze the funds of individuals ‘in connection with the fight against international terrorism’, if it is sanctioned by the UN Security Council.
Its decision comes in a case brought by Ahmed Ali Yusuf, the Al Barakaat International Foundation and Yassin Abdullah Kadi, whose funds were frozen in Sweden in 2001.
Kadi heads the Saudi-based Muwafaq Foundation, which the US alleges is an al-Qaeda front, and Yusuf the Sweden-based Al-Barakaat foundation, whose claims to send humanitarian aid to Somalia have been challenged by intelligence services.
The plaintiffs argued the 2002 EU regulation used to freeze their property illegally infringed their property rights, but the court found the EU had no choice but to approve the law, given the paramount nature of UN decisions, ‘which prevail over any other obligation’.
posted by Fergie @ 10/04/2005 05:40:00 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home