On Friday 17 June 2016, the English Court of Appeal refused the Republic of Djibouti permission to appeal a judgment in favour of businessman Abdourahman Boreh, bringing an end to the campaign it has waged against him for the past eight years.
On 2 March 2016, following a ten week hearing in the English High Court, Mr Justice Flaux handed down his judgment dismissing all claims in their entirety brought by the Republic of Djibouti against Mr Boreh. The claims included serious allegations of fraud, bribery and corruption. The judgment represented a real vindication of what Mr Boreh has contended throughout – that the claims against him were baseless and part of a malicious persecution of him, his family and business associates by the President of Djibouti, designed to crush him as a political opponent.
In dismissing the claims, Mr Justice Flaux described Mr Boreh as “a patriot … [who] … has a strong desire to improve his country and is justly proud of what has been achieved at Doraleh through his and the Republic’s cooperation with Dubai”. He went on to say that Mr Boreh is “…not a man who would take bribes to sell his country short.”
Unhappy with the decision, Djibouti sought permission to appeal the judgment from the Court of Appeal on 23 March 2016. Mr Boreh was eager for justice finally to be done and instructed his legal team, Byrne and Partners, to request the Court of Appeal to expedite Djibouti’s application. Shortly thereafter, a hearing was arranged to take place before Lord Justice Longmore on 17 June 2016.
The Lord Justice of Appeal listened to submissions from the parties’ counsel, after which he refused Djibouti’s request. Djibouti was also ordered to pay Mr Boreh’s costs of the hearing, which it must pay in addition to Mr Boreh’s costs of successfully defending the main claim. It is not possible for Djibouti to appeal the decision of the Court of Appeal. This means that Djibouti’s long-running campaign against Mr Boreh in the English High Court finally has come to an end.
After the hearing, Mr Boreh said the following:
“The politically motivated campaign pursued against me has caused my family and me immense distress, severely damaged my reputation and robbed me of the opportunity to conduct business freely.
It is ironic that such serious allegations of bribery and corruption were levelled against me by a regime that is ranked as one of the worst countries in the world for corruption by independent NGOs and whose corruption has been remarked upon in US State Department and IMF publications. I was persecuted simply because I dared to question the President’s arbitrary decision to change the constitution so that he could remain in power. It is also regrettable that the personal vendetta pursued against me by the President has led to the waste of millions of dollars that could have been used to alleviate poverty in Djibouti.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Court of Appeal for its decision. The English legal system richly deserves its reputation for delivering justice to all, no matter the identity of one’s opponent or the fact that they have far greater resources at their disposal, as was true in this case.
“I am pleased and relieved that this matter is now at an end and my family and I can move on with our lives.”
Yvonne Jefferies, Partner, Byrne and Partners said:
“Last Friday’s Court of Appeal decision represented the epilogue to this long-running and acrimonious dispute. Mr Boreh was naturally delighted that his name had finally been cleared and he had the opportunity to put this unsavoury affair behind him. For Byrne and Partners, there was a tremendous amount of satisfaction that its many years of hard work, in the face of a much better-resourced opponent, had paid off. The decision reinforces the English Courts’ reputation as bastions of justice who will decide a case on its merits, even where this involves ruling against a friendly sovereign nation.”