Ex-Hostage Wins $341-Million Judgment
A federal judge on Friday awarded former hostage Terry Anderson and his family $341 million from Iran, saying the journalist’s treatment during nearly seven years of captivity in Beirut was “savage and cruel by any civilized standards.”
Although Anderson was held in Lebanon, he and his fellow captives say their kidnappings were engineered by Iran.
U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson ordered Iran to pay $24.5 million to Anderson, $10 million to his wife, Madeleine Bassil, and $6.7 million to their daughter, Sulome. The judge also ordered the Iranian Ministry of Information and Security to pay the three $300 million in punitive damages.
“I’m delighted with the judgment,” Anderson said.
The judge wrote that it was difficult to determine a damage amount partly because “the likelihood that any award will ever be paid is minimal.” Calls Friday seeking comment from Iran’s mission to the United Nations were not returned.
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