The true story of a Perth-born lawyer who risked her life negotiating with Islamic terrorists for the release of two British SAS soldiers held hostage during the Iraq War will be turned into a feature film.
Australian producer Alan Lindsay has optioned the rights to Rabia Siddique’s memoir Equal Justice, which was published last year, and will co-produce the drama with the UK’s Bedlam Productions, co-producer of The King’ s Speech.
The principal of the WA-based Vue Group, Lindsay tells IF he pitched the project to Bedlam’s Simon Egan, who readily agreed to collaborate. Lindsay says they are looking to hire a UK writer and an Australian director.
Siddique is a criminal and human rights lawyer based in Perth. She moved to the UK in 1998 and joined the British Army as a legal officer.
On her website she relates how she helped rescue two SAS soldiers from Iraqi insurgents in Basra in 2005. “Her male colleague (Major James Woodham) received a Military Cross for outstanding bravery while Rabia’s part in the incident was covered up by the British Army and Government,” she says.
“In a fight for justice she brought a landmark discrimination case against the UK Ministry of Defence, and won.”
She describes her memoir as a story about "strength, resilience, courage, conviction and determination."
Rabia was awarded a Queen’s commendation for her human rights work in Iraq and later served as a Crown Advocate in the British counter-terrorism division, which saw her prosecuting Al Qaeda terrorists and hate crimes and advising on war crimes prosecutions in The Hague.
Currently she is legal counsel to the Commissioner of the WA Police.