Bin Laden’s half-brother seeks SFr20 million in damages
The millionaire half-brother of Osama bin Laden has accused the authors and editors of a book, "Ben Laden, The Forbidden Truth", of defamation.
Yeslam Binladin, who has lived in Geneva for the past 20 years, is seeking SFr 20 million in damages after the authors claimed he was in contact with his half-brother.
His lawyer, Jürg Brand, said the allegation that Yeslam Binladin was in contact with a known terrorist could prejudice his client’s ability to conduct business for the next 10 to 20 years.
Brand said proceedings had been launched against the book’s authors, the French publishers Denoël and the German publishers Pendo.
He also confirmed a report in the “SonntagsBlick” newspaper that distribution of the French language version of the book in Switzerland had been blocked as a preventive measure, and that similar action against the German language edition was pending.
Following the attacks of September 11 and after taking legal advice, Yeslam Binladin’s accounts were examined by an independent trust company. No evidence of a compromising relationship was found, said Brand.
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