PRAGUE: A Prague court has convicted a Qatari royal family member of sexually abusing minors and sentenced him to 11 months and eight days in prison.

Hamad bin Abdallah bin Thani Al Thani was convicted in 2005 of sexually abusing underage girls in the Czech Republic and sentenced to 30 months in prison.

He was extradited to Qatar before an appeals court cancelled the ruling. Qatar assured Czechs he would be prosecuted there. Czech authorities reopened the trial in 2009 after Qatar failed to prosecute him and issued an international arrest warrant for him in 2011. The verdict was issued in absentia, but Al Thani agreed with the trial.

Thursday’s sentence covers the time he spent in Czech detention and if the state prosecutor doesn’t appeal, the case is over.

Published in Dawn October 9th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play