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Iraqi ambassador reaches compensation agreement with Portuguese family over attack

Xinhua, January 14, 2017 Adjust font size:

The ambassador of Iraq here, Saad Mohammed Ridha, reached an out of court settlement on Friday with the family of Ruben Cavaco, a teenager left in a coma following an alleged assault by the diplomat's twin sons, according to local media reports.

However, the criminal process will continue autonomously on behalf of the Public Prosecutor's Office, and the diplomat's twin sons will be taken to court if their diplomatic immunity is lifted.

According to Cavaco's lawyer Santana Maia Leonardo, the extrajudicial agreement took place on Friday and the case was closed for the family, but he did not reveal the amount paid to the family.

The 17-year old twins, Haider and Ridha Ali, sons of the Iraqi ambassador, were accused of attacking 15-year-old Cavaco in the town of Ponte de Sor around 180 km northeast of Lisbon on Aug. 17.

The twin brothers were at first detained by police but soon freed after discovering they were sons of Ridha, as they have diplomatic immunity from prosecution.

Portugal's foreign ministry has twice asked Iraq to lift diplomatic immunity from its ambassadors' sons, however, the Iraqi authorities requested Portugal to provide further legal details relating to the investigation. Endit