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Court orders Iran to pay Chesapeake man's family, another family after ruling the country liable for kidnapping, death

In August, the court found Iran liable for the kidnapping of one man and murder of John Hamen. The country is now ordered to pay the families over $250 million.

WASHINGTON — The United States District Court for the District of Columbia has ordered Iran to pay over $250 million to a Chesapeake man's family and another family after they found the country liable for the kidnapping of both men and the death of one of them.

In October 2015, private contractors John Hamen, from Chesapeake, and Mark McAlister were sent to Yemen to assist in the renovation of a hotel in Yemen used to house United Nations Personnel. 

Members of a Yemeni militant group known as Houthis abducted the two men from the airport in Sana'a, Yemen.

Hamen was killed sixteen days after the abduction while McAlister was held as a hostage for over six months.

McAlister and his family, as well as members of Hamen's family, filed a lawsuit against Iran for "providing material military and economic support' to the Houthis. They also said the violence the group inflicted on Hamen and McAlister was "an expected and welcomed result of such support."

Iran never responded to the lawsuit, and on August 7, the Honorable Randolph D Moss ruled that Iran was liable in the kidnapping and death of Hamen, as well as the kidnapping of McAlister.

The families were awarded over $250 million for economic damages and non-economic damages.

According to 1605A of the U.S. code, 'foreign state-sponsors of terrorism are liable to victims for economic losses stemming from injuries or death sustained as a result of the foreign state's conduct."

Hamen's family sought to recover loss of income and benefits stemming from his murder.

Dr. James V. Koch, a Visitors' Professor of Economics and President Emeritus at Pold Dominion University testified as an expert for determining the economic loss. Dr. Kock recommended that the family be awarded $2,769,948 in economic loss damages.

The non-economic damages include the pain and suffering for Mark McAlister, pain and suffering for John Hamen, solatium for family members and punitive damages.

McAlister sought $10,000 for each day he was held captive totaling  $1,920,000. 

According to the document, the amount of $10,000 per day of captivity for cases of prolonged and abusive unlawful detention has become a general standardin the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

McAlister also sought $5 million in damages for post-release pain and suffering.

Hamen's family sought $5 million in "pain and suffering damages for the abuse and torture he endured during his 16 days of captivity and for the period immediately prior to his death."

Awards for solatium damages are intended to compensate families for "the mental anguish, bereavement and grief that those with a close personal relationship to a decedent experience as the result of the decedent's death, as well as the harm caused by the loss of the decedent."

The amounts awarded to each family member for solatium damages were not disclosed in the court document.

According to the court document, punitive damages "serve to punish and deter the actions for which they were awarded." In this case, the punitive damages awarded would serve to deter Iran from supporting terrorist groups.

Because the compensatory damages awarded by the court totaled $84,289,948, the court ordered Iran to pay $168,579,896 in punitive damages for a total of $252,869,844.

Read the court's full decision here:

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