A partner at international firm Dechert has changed evidence he gave to the High Court earlier this year after being accused of perjury by a Jordanian lawyer, who alleges he was tortured by the solicitor.

Neil Gerrard, global co-head of white collar crime at Dechert, gave evidence to the High Court in RAKIA v Azima about his dealings with an imprisoned lawyer in the United Arab Emirates. Under cross-examination, Gerrard said he had interviewed prisoner Karam Al Sadeq once; that he had adhered to UK Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) safeguards; and that Al Sadeq had a lawyer present at all times.

However, after the judgment was handed down on 22 May, Gerrard filed a corrective witness statement saying he had been ‘mistaken in some aspects of his recollections’. His revised evidence said he had interviewed Al Sadeq at least six times; that he did not follow PACE safeguards; and that the prisoner was not legally represented during all interviews.

The correction followed a claim filed by Al Sadeq in separate proceedings, alleging the evidence Gerrard gave under cross-examination had been ‘perjurious’. Al Sadeq alleges he was kidnapped, interrogated and placed in solitary confinement for 560 days during an investigation conducted by Dechert. The allegations are strongly denied.  

In an addendum to judgment, Andrew Lenon QC said the new evidence ‘cumulatively creates a materially different impression of the extent and nature of Mr Gerrard's dealings with Mr Al Sadeq’.

He added that the partner had given evidence in court 'with bluster, volunteering additional details about his dealings with Mr Al Sadeq – which now turn out to be wrong – often in unambiguous terms and emphatic tone, with no suggestion that his memory could be faulty or that he had not prepared himself to answer such questions.’

However, Lenon concluded: ‘I am not prepared to decide, on the basis of Mr Gerrard's third statement, that his evidence either at the trial or in the third statement was deliberately untrue.’ He added that ‘human memory is fallible and honest witnesses often make errors when recollecting past events’.

Lenon said the new witness statement does ‘not affect any of my conclusions on any of the substantive issues’ and he made a final order based on his findings on his judgment as it stands. 

A spokesperson for Dechert said: 'Mr Gerrard has sought at all times to give his honest recollection of events. The new claims brought by Mr Al Sadeq are completely without foundation and shall be defended vigorously.’

A spokesperson for Azima said: 'Neil Gerrard gave false evidence under oath about his involvement in human rights abuses. We will explore this further at appeal.'

The case concerned a Middle Eastern hacking claim in which airline tycoon Farhad Azima alleged that his emails had been hacked and published on the dark web by RAKIA, the sovereign investment fund of the UAE’s northernmost emirate. Gerrard was acting for RAKIA at the time in question.

The case was dismissed by the High Court in May.