British court rules on damage claim for asylum-seeker

The High Court in Britain has decided that an Algerian asylum-seeker is entitled to damages after being unlawfully detained for two months.

The judge in the case, believed to be the first of its kind, ruled that the authorities continued to detain the man -- identified only as Mr B -- despite new evidence emerging backing his claim to be a genuine asylum-seeker.

Mr B, who left Algeria in 1990, fought with the mujahideen in Afghanistan, then later for the Bosnian Muslims.

He said that on arriving in Britain in 1995, he had not told the immigration authorities his full story, fearing that he would be branded a terrorist.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service