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UK: Yemeni billionaire’s son confesses to 2008 student killing

The son of a Yemeni billionaire has admitted involvement in the death of a Norwegian student found raped and strangled in Mayfair

March 30, 2023 at 12:55 pm

The son of a Yemeni billionaire has admitted his involvement in the 2008 death of a student in London, which he described as a “sex accident gone wrong”.

Farouk Abdulhak, who is on the Metropolitan Police “Most Wanted” list, fled the country to his native Yemen within hours of the death of Norwegian student Martine Vik Magnussen, 23. Her body was discovered under rubble in a basement in Great Portland Street.

Both studied at Regent’s Business School and were seen leaving a Mayfair club where they had gone to celebrate the end of their exams. Her body was found two days later, by which time Abdulhak, the son of one of Yemen’s wealthiest and most powerful men, is said to have flown out of the country on his father’s private jet.

According to the BBC, Abdulhak confessed to one of their journalists, Nawal Al-Maghafi, who had contacted him on social media. Despite ignoring hundreds of other journalists over the years, Al-Maghafi’s “shared Yemeni background” helped her gain his trust and they exchanged texts and voice notes over a period of five months.

“I did something when I was younger, it was a mistake,” he was quoted as saying. He referred to the victim’s death as an “incident” or “accident”. However, the coroner’s report noted how violently Magnussen had died, and that she had been raped.

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A post-mortem examination described her death as being the result of “compression to the neck” which “could mean she was strangled, held down or smothered”. Her body also had 43 cuts and grazes, “many of them typical of assault type injuries or those received in a struggle”. An inquest in 2019 recorded a verdict of unlawful killing.

When asked if he would ever return to Britain to face the consequences over Martine Vik Magnussen’s death, Abdulhak told the BBC journalist: “I don’t think justice will be served. I find that the criminal justice system there [in the UK] is heavily biased. I find that they will want to make an example of me being a son of an Arab, being… a son of someone rich… it’s way too late.”

The dead woman’s father, Odd Petter Magnussen, is hopeful that Abdulhak will be extradited to the UK after confessing to the crime. “I’m optimistic we might have a solution in the longer term… because we can talk to him. I’m more than ever convinced that there will be a solution to this case. I just hope it will be on… my ethical terms,” he said. “Go back to the UK. Tell what happened to Martine. Because not only Martine deserves that, but also our family.”

If successful, reports the Times, the move would mark an unprecedented diplomatic achievement because Britain currently does not have an extradition treaty with Yemen. Abdulhak could be the first to be extradited to the UK from the country.

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