Published: 06 Sep 2008
A MUSLIM lawyer suspended by the Crown Prosecution Service after joking she was a friend of Osama bin Laden has won a record £600,000 for racial discrimination.
A tribunal said there was “not a shred of evidence” to support the treatment of Halima Aziz.
It found the CPS guilty of discrimination and ordered it to reinstate her and issue a full apology.
The seven-year battle cost taxpayers £500,000 in legal costs.
The lawyer was working at Bradford Crown Court in October 2001 when she was accused of blaming Jews for the 9/11 terror attacks.
Ms Aziz said she joked that, as she went through a court security check, she was being treated like a pal of Bin Laden.
She was cleared of all allegations in 2002.
After learning of the payout, Ms Aziz said: “I am 100 per cent certain this would not have happened if I had not been a Muslim and Asian.” She now hopes to build an orphanage in Pakistan.
