Muscat: An appeal for justice on a blog worked for a German expatriate lady, who has finally won a legal battle with her two Omani partners for the ownership of the German Fertility Centre in Muscat.
The Appellate Court in Oman has ruled in favour of Vera Neusser, who had also won her partnership rights in a primary court with her Omani partners - Ali Khalid Al Sharji and Faisal Juma Hashil Al Shikaili.
“The laws of our country are equal for all residents, citizens as well as expatriates,” Nasser Abdullah al Riyami, Assistant Attorney General, said in a statement released to the media here in Muscat on Wednesday.
“Justice has always been fair in Oman,” he said, pointing to the judgement delivered in favour of the German.
Neusser had set up a fertility clinic in Azaiba district in Muscat with Al Sharji and Al Shikaili. According to her blog, the agreement was for her to invest in the venture and the two Omani partners providing support with silent partnership for which they would be paid 10 per cent.
After a year in the beginning of 2010, the two partners told her that they would take over 60 per cent share and eventually the Omani partners threw her out without allowing her to take even her own papers in June this year.
Apparently her visa was never changed from visit to employment and she was told that she had no right whatsoever as she had worked under visit visa.
She left for Germany and put her side of the story on her blog from Nuremburg.
“I owned the equipment as well as furniture and had paid rent and staff salary but my Omani partners threatened that I would be jailed if I didn’t leave,” she wrote on her blog.
On her blog she asked for advice on how to recover her portion of the investment in the German Fertility Centre in Muscat.
Her blog entry received several positive responses and people from Oman, Omanis as well as expatriates advised her to return to Oman and have faith in competence of country’s justice system.
She returned in October and filed a suit with the Public Prosecutor, who investigated the case and in a short period, granted Neusser the right to her title on the equipment and other machinery in the clinic.
“Those seeking redressal of legal grievances or wrongdoing, will get justice under the due process of the law and according to the merits of their case”.
According to Al Riyami, the details of Neusser bad experience on the Internet (her blog) sent out a distorted image of Oman.
“Our investigations revealed that the plaintiff was the rightful owner of the centre and the medical equipment and thus decided to hand it over to her,” he added.
The decision in favour of the German was based on article (39) of the Civil and Commercial Procedures Law.
