James Le Mesurier

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James Gustaf Edward Le Mesurier OBE (born May 25, 1971 in Singapore , † November 11, 2019 in Istanbul ) was a British officer and founder of non-governmental organizations and foundations .

life and work

Le Mesurier was born in Singapore in 1971 as the son of Benjamin Havilland Churchill Le Mesurier; he has an older sister. After studying, he joined the Royal Green Jackets , an infantry regiment of the British Army , in 1990 as a probationary lieutenant . After obtaining a degree, he moved to the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst . There he was confirmed as a lieutenant and promoted to captain in 1996 . During this time it was also used by the peacekeeping forces of the United Nations in the area of ​​operations in Yugoslavia .

In 2000 he retired from the British armed forces and worked for the private security firm Good Harbor Consulting of Richard Clarke in the United Arab Emirates and Yemen .

In early 2013 he registered the non-profit Mayday Rescue Foundation , based in Amsterdam , which trained Syrian volunteers in civil defense . This volunteer group developed into the White Helmets , who received the Right Livelihood Award and the Franco-German Prize for Human Rights and the Rule of Law in 2016 .

In early November 2019, Le Mesurier informed donor countries about financial irregularities in the Mayday Rescue Foundation . In his letter he offered to resign. A few days later, on November 11, 2019, he fell from the balcony of the second floor of his apartment in Istanbul- Beyoğlu under unknown circumstances and died in the process. Le Mesurier left a wife and two children. The Istanbul public prosecutor announced on March 3, 2020 that it had suspended the investigation (including against his wife).

After Le Mesurier's death, donor countries initiated a criminal investigation into Mayday Rescue's books . The results were not published; however, the Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant gained access to the summary of the investigation report in July 2020. After that, no evidence of misappropriation of funds was found; Le Mesurier's self-accusation in this regard was apparently due to a misunderstanding. However, there were fundamental problems with the foundation's supervisory structures and some of the accounting documents could not be found.

The new Mayday Rescue administrator, Cor Vrieswijk, announced in July 2020 that the foundation would be dissolved within a few months.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Bel Trew: James Le Mesurier: White Helmets backer found dead near his home in Istanbul. In: independent.co.uk . November 11, 2019, accessed November 12, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Syrie. Les Casques blancs, heros ordinaires de la guerre civile. In: courrierinternational.com . June 11, 2015, accessed November 12, 2019 (French).
  3. ^ A b c Ana van Es, Anneke Stoffelen: Founder of Foundation behind White Helmets Admits Fraud. In: volkskrant.nl . July 15, 2020, accessed on July 25, 2020 .
  4. ↑ Important supporter of the White Helmets found dead in Istanbul. In: zeit.de . November 11, 2019, accessed November 12, 2019 .
  5. ↑ Investigators see no outside influence in the death of the Weisshelm founder
personal data
SURNAME Le Mesurier, James
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Le Mesurier, James Gustaf Edward (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British officer and NGO founder
DATE OF BIRTH May 25, 1971
PLACE OF BIRTH Singapore
DATE OF DEATH November 11, 2019
Place of death Istanbul