“Attorney General seeks to appeal Villaggio fire verdict”, 21 Nov 2015

The Attorney General HE Dr. Ali bin Fetais al-Marri on Saturday ordered the launch of an appeal process, seeking a review of the ruling of the Court of Appeal in the Villaggio mall fire case.  A Doha court of appeal had last month acquitted five persons, who were held responsible for the deadly fire by a trial court.  HE Dr. al-Marri has asked the Prosecution of Cassation to prepare a memorandum detailing the reasons cited for the ruling that acquitted all the defendants in the case…In one of the worst tragedies to hit Qatar, 19 persons including 13 children perished in the blaze that engulfed the Gympanzee daycare at the upmarket shopping complex in May 2012…Overturning the convictions, presiding judge Abdalrahman al-Sharafi of the Appeal Court said he cannot agree with the testimony given by the victims’ family members during the initial trial, arguing that one cannot be a witness as well as a plaintiff in the same case…