Australian professor Lukman Thalib and son Ismail Talib, detained in Qatar without charge for five months, are released
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Lukman Thalib was held in Qatar for five months without charge and allegedly tortured.
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The family of an Australian public health professor and his son who were detained by Qatar for five months without charge and allegedly tortured have expressed joy and relief after the pair were released.
Key points:
The father and son have gone to Turkey to stay with Mr Thalib s daughter
The family say no formal allegations were made against them
Lukman Thalib, 58, an Australian citizen who was the head of the Department of Public Health at Qatar University, and his son Ismail Talib, 24, were arrested at their home in Qatar in July.
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Lukman Thalib, 58, and Ismail Talib, 24, were detained at their home in Qatar on 27 July by a group of plain clothes officers, Professor Thalib s daughter Maryam Talib told SBS News last month.
London-based advocacy group CAGE, which was supporting the family, said they believe the arrests were linked to allegations surrounding another of Professor Thalib s sons.
But on Friday, CAGE said the pair had arrived safely arrived in Turkey, where Ms Talib lives, after being released from the detention centre last week. It is still unclear why the men were arrested and the reason for their sudden release.
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An Australian biostatistics professor – who worked as part of Qatar s coronavirus task force – and his son are being
detained without charge
Prof
Lukman Thalib, 58, and his son Ismail Talib, 24, were arrested at their home in Doha in July.
Three months after their arrest, the US State Department named another of the academic s sons, who lives in Australia, as an alleged “financial facilitator” of Al Qaeda.
Prof
Thalib has lived
in Qatar since 2015 and was working as one of its leading public health officials on its pandemic response.
The father of four was the head of the Department of Public Health at Qatar University.
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An Australian biostatistics professor who worked as part of a coronavirus taskforce and his son have been detained in Qatar for almost five months.
Lukman Thalib, 58, and Ismail Talib, 24, were arrested at their home in Qatar on 27 July, according to London-based advocacy organisation CAGE, which is assisting the pair.
Professor Thalib was the head of the Department of Public Health at Qatar University and was recently working on the country s Scientific Reference and Research Task Force established in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Timeline
1 September: Professor Thalib makes contact with his family for the first time.