Qatar police officers charged over invasive airport strip searches

The incident in October sparked international condemnation and calls from Australia for a thorough investigation

On October 2, police at Doha's Hamad International Airport stopped women on as many as 10 flights AP Photo

Charges have been filed against Qatari police officers who oversaw an invasive search of dozens of women at Doha airport last month, the country said on Monday.

Qatar's public prosecutions office did not say how many officers faced legal action or what charges were being applied in the case.

On October 2, police at Doha's Hamad International Airport stopped women on as many as 10 flights and carried out what was described as an invasive search after a newborn baby was discovered abandoned in an airport bathroom.

The incident sparked an international backlash with Australian ministers condemning the action against the women, that included two British and 13 Australian citizens on one of the flights, and demanding action be taken.

"I was incredulous that this could have happened," Australia's foreign department secretary Frances Adamson told a Senate hearing on October 28. "This is not – by any standard – normal behaviour and the Qataris recognise that, are appalled by it, do not want it to happen again."

However, the Qatari prosecutors said they were investigating the "external examination of female passengers," contradicting Australian officials and the accounts of several women involved who described being made to undress.

Women aboard the flights have described being ordered off planes and taken to an ambulance on the tarmac or interrogation rooms and strip searched.

The prosecutors said police officers acted unilaterally and face "penalties of a maximum of three years".

Qatari officials said the searches were conducted to find the mother of the newborn child found abandoned in a rubbish bin in an airport bathroom.

The prosecutors said they had identified the parents of the abandoned child and were also filing charges against the couple the authorities described as being from "Asian countries" – a term Qatar often uses to refers South Asian nations where a large number of its migrant workers are from.

The prosecutor alleges that the mother messaged the father telling him she had just given birth and that she was abandoning the child and leaving the country.

"The father of the infant admitted that he had a relationship with the infant's mother and that she had sent him a message and a photo of the newborn infant immediately after her birth," the prosecutor said.

It was not clear what charges the father faced or what motivated the woman to attempt to leave the country. The baby girl is being taken care of by the Qatari authorities.