The parents of two-year-old triplets killed in the Villaggio Mall fire in Doha in 2012 have attacked Qatar’s judicial system and begged the New Zealand government to intervene, after a judge threw out an earlier ruling that held five people responsible for the tragedy.
Nineteen people, including 13 children, suffocated to death inside the Gympanzee daycare centre when the fire broke out at a Nike sports shop in the mall in May 2012.
Last June, Qatar’s court of first instance sentenced five people – among them Qatar’s ambassador to Belgium – to up to six years in prison over “negligence” that caused the tragedy.
According to the official investigation, the fire was caused by faulty wiring in strip lighting at the Nike store. The outlet was also said to lack proper government safety licences.
But the Court of Appeal on Monday exonerated all five defendants, including Villaggio’s chairman Abdul Aziz Mohammed Al Rabban.
Instead, it found Al Rabban’s firm, the Qatari Company for Real Estate and Commercial Projects, guilty of involuntary manslaughter.
This means the firm and its insurers will have to pay blood money to the victims’ families and a QR20,000 ($5,500) fine – which, according to local media, is the maximum amount permitted under this charge. Al Rabban will not have to go to jail.
None of the defendants appeared in court on Monday, Doha News said, and many of the victims’ families stormed out on hearing the verdict.
In an emailed statement to Arabian Business, Martin and Janes Weekes, New Zealand expats living in Doha who lost their two-year-old triplets in the fire, described the decision as a “travesty of justice”, and criticised Qatar’s record on public safety.
They said: “Last night we received devastating news from the court in Qatar. Not one person has taken responsibility for this crime. The charge has now been reduced to corporate manslaughter. This is a travesty of justice.
“Our local lawyer has told us(sic): ‘For the nursery and Villaggio the judgment made many mistakes in facts and law and make it to appear no justice has been applied and you hope that the attorney general will appeal it with the cassation court.’
“The pain for all of the families is indescribable. Today we remember the 19 innocent lives lost, including 13 beautiful children. We are grieving for our beautiful children. And we are angry.
“Qatar likes to position itself as a forward looking member of the international community. Its actions today show just how far it has to go.
“Qatar is a country wanting to be an international tourist destination hosting major sporting tournaments and other international events. But they cannot even guarantee public safety with basic protections. How can anything go ahead in these circumstances? Their safety standards are third world. Their judicial system is not fit for purpose. It is one rule for Qataris and another rule for all others,” he family added in a strongly worded statement.
The Weekes’ have asked the New Zealand government to protect their interests and demand justice from the Qatari court.
“This government has to take action to remind [all New Zealanders currently living in Qatar] that this is an unsafe place to live, work and visit.
“Our prime minister John Key met with the Emir of Qatar earlier this year and we were assured by both of them that our children would have justice. This isn’t the justice we were hoping for.
“Now is the time for the international community and especially New Zealand to remind the Qatari government of their responsibilities to our family and the other families affected for justice to be done.”
Doha News reported that other members of the public hit out at the decision on social media, with one local tweeting: “After this verdict, we no longer feel safe that our children can go to malls because the state hasn’t penalised those who caused the fire.”
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