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London, England (February 10, 2016)-  St.Lucia Diplomat and Saudi billionaire  Dr. Walid Juffali, 60, has lost his battle to have High Court strike out suit brought by his ex-wife Ms Estrada on the grounds that he possessed legal immunity because of his career as a Caribbean  diplomat in London.

 

Christina Estrada the former Pirelli model has won the right to sue him in Britain after the judge ruled that Walid Juffali, who divorced Ms Estrada in 2014, had sought to defeat her action by asserting a “spurious” and ‘entirely artificial’ and clearing the way for Ms Estrada, 53, to continue her lawsuit.

 

Estrada is seeking a slice of the £4billion fortune of Sheikh Walid Juffali after the end of their 13-year marriage. Mr Juffali  who owns  St Saviour’s House, a seven-bedroom converted church in, complete with a cinema and swimming pool which valued at £50 million in 2013.

 

They also possess Bishopsgate House, a £100 million estate beside Windsor Great Park, and Matthew Point Manor, a country house on the Devon coast, valued at £2.5 million in 2007.

 

 

Ms Estrada, has a 13-year-old daughter with Mr Juffali. Mr Juffali claims he pays her $100,000 (£70,000) a month and meets all the expenses of raising their daughter. He also said that he bought her a $12 million (£8 million) house in Beverly Hills.

 

A spokesman said that Mr Juffali believed that no “English Judge” possessed the “capacity or right to intrude on matters relating to the diplomatic arrangements and/or appointments of another state”. The spokesman added: “If this decision is upheld, it will set a dangerous precedent for diplomats everywhere.”

The St.Lucia Government led by Prime Minister Dr. Kenny Antony issued a release  expressing surprise at the court’s decision.

The release stated in part “While the Government has said in the past that it is for the courts to decide if diplomatic immunity can be invoked in this matter, the Government is extremely surprised by Monday’s judgment, and specifically by Mr. Justice Hayden’s comments about Dr. Juffali’s status as Saint Lucia’s Representative to the IMO. As a sovereign state, it is Saint Lucia’s responsibility and sole right to decide who our diplomatic representatives are or should be.

Mr Juffali is allegedly spent much of the time ill in hospital as he is suffering from cancer and was previously in hospital in Switzerland.