Women strip-searched at Doha airport lose bid to sue Qatar Airways [Video]

An Australian court has said Qatar Airways cannot be prosecuted under the laws governing global travel after women who were strip-searched sued the airline.

Five women moved the Federal Court of Australia in 2021 against the state-owned airline, alleging “unlawful physical contact” and false imprisonment. They said the incident left them traumatised.

The women said they never consented to the invasive search at Doha airport in October 2020. In November 2021, their lawyers said the women were suing Qatari authorities and the national airline.

However, on Wednesday, justice John Halley said that Qatar Airways could not be held responsible in the case owing to a multilateral treaty of the Montreal Convention, under which a liability of the airline is established in the case of death or injury to passengers.

He said the arguments made by the group of …