Former prisoner of war in court battle
A woman who spent four years as a Japanese prisoner of war is waiting to hear if she has won her ongoing case against the British Government.
According to a report on the BBC News site, for five years, officials denied Diana Elias compensation as she had no Ôblood linkÕ to the UK. They were forced to give her a £10 000 payout following a High Court ruling last year. But Elias, from Colindale, north London, is now going to the Court of Appeal to prove her Britishness. Last year when the Ministry of Defence granted her compensation, they claimed it was on the basis that she had lived in the country for more than 20 years. Elias has gone to the Court of Appeal to argue a point of principle Ð that the money she was given should have been granted to her on the basis of her British nationality Ð rather than how long she has lived in the country. She argues that it is because of their Britishness that she and her family were interned by the Japanese. In 2000, when the government announced its compensation scheme, Elias was told she did not qualify because her parents were born in Iraq and India.