{"id":11042,"date":"2017-07-05T08:29:08","date_gmt":"2017-07-05T08:29:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reprieve.org.uk\/?post_type=update&#038;p=11042"},"modified":"2020-05-29T15:18:56","modified_gmt":"2020-05-29T15:18:56","slug":"update-government-seeks-secret-trial-mi6-rendition-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/2017\/07\/05\/update-government-seeks-secret-trial-mi6-rendition-case\/","title":{"rendered":"Government seeks secret trial in MI6 \u2018rendition\u2019 case"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"header_block\">The Government will apply for a secret hearing in a challenge to a prosecution decision for the first time in a case stemming from the involvement of a senior MI6 officer in the abduction and \u2018rendition\u2019 of two families to Gaddafi\u2019s Libya, it emerged\u00a0today.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cWe already knew MI6 and the Foreign Office were desperate to keep this case out of open court, but British prosecutors are meant to be independent \u2013 especially when they are investigating senior UK officials. DPP Alison Saunders\u2019 approach has been to adopt the Foreign Office\u2019s line wholesale, giving the victims no reasons, no evidence, and \u2013 as the Lord Chief Justice put it today \u2013 no facts about her decision not to prosecute. If our top prosecutor really cares about justice being done, she will let the victims see the evidence, and ensure that Sir Mark Allen answers in court for his actions.\u201d<br \/>\n<em><strong>Cori Crider, lawyer for\u00a0the couple at Reprieve<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The move came today in a hearing in the case of Libyan Abdul-Hakim Belhaj and his wife Fatima Boudchar. The couple were seized and \u2018rendered\u2019 to Gaddafi\u2019s Libya in 2004 in a joint CIA-MI6-Libyan operation. Last June,\u00a0after\u00a0Scotland Yard recommended\u00a0that criminal charges be brought, the Crown Prosecution Service declined to charge the lead suspect \u2013\u00a0former\u00a0MI6\u00a0official\u00a0Sir Mark Allen. The couple are challenging the decision.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3290\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3290\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.reprieve.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Belhaj.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-3290\" src=\"http:\/\/www.reprieve.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Belhaj.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"453\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3290\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Abdul-hakim Belhaj, who, along with his pregnant wife, was &#8216;rendered&#8217; to Libya in a joint MI6-CIA operation in 2004.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Foreign Secretary and the Director of Public Prosecutions, Alison Saunders, are seeking to avoid the public disclosure of documents detailing the reasons it was decided not to prosecute. At\u00a0the High Court\u00a0today, lawyers for the\u00a0DPP and the Foreign Office\u00a0said they would\u00a0apply to have the entire challenge heard in secret.<\/p>\n<p>Lord Chief Justice Thomas expressed surprise at the DPP\u2019s approach to the victims, saying:\u00a0\u201cI have never seen a case like this\u00a0where the DPP has refused, in effect, to set out proper reasons you\u2019re not prosecuting.\u201d He added: \u201cIf\u00a0this was a murder case or a rape case, it would be inconceivable that the position taken by your client would be taken.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Foreign Office and DPP will now apply to withhold the decision documents from the victims by means of a controversial \u2018section 6\u2019 application under the Justice and Security Act 2013. This has never before been done in a judicial review relating to a criminal prosecution decision. The 2013 Act specifically excludes \u201ccriminal cause or matter\u201d from areas where a wholly secret trial is available to Government.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The couple were seized and \u2018rendered\u2019 to Gaddafi\u2019s Libya in 2004 in a joint CIA-MI6-Libyan operation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-update"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Government seeks secret trial in MI6 \u2018rendition\u2019 case<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/2017\/07\/05\/update-government-seeks-secret-trial-mi6-rendition-case\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Government seeks secret trial in MI6 \u2018rendition\u2019 case\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The couple were seized and \u2018rendered\u2019 to Gaddafi\u2019s Libya in 2004 in a joint CIA-MI6-Libyan operation.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/2017\/07\/05\/update-government-seeks-secret-trial-mi6-rendition-case\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Reprieve\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ReprieveHQ\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-07-05T08:29:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-05-29T15:18:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.reprieve.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Belhaj.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@reprieve\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@reprieve\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reprieve.org\\\/uk\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/05\\\/update-government-seeks-secret-trial-mi6-rendition-case\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reprieve.org\\\/uk\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/05\\\/update-government-seeks-secret-trial-mi6-rendition-case\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Government seeks secret trial in MI6 \u2018rendition\u2019 case\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-07-05T08:29:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-05-29T15:18:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reprieve.org\\\/uk\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/05\\\/update-government-seeks-secret-trial-mi6-rendition-case\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":443,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reprieve.org\\\/uk\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reprieve.org\\\/uk\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/05\\\/update-government-seeks-secret-trial-mi6-rendition-case\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.reprieve.org.uk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/11\\\/Belhaj.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Update\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reprieve.org\\\/uk\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/05\\\/update-government-seeks-secret-trial-mi6-rendition-case\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reprieve.org\\\/uk\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/05\\\/update-government-seeks-secret-trial-mi6-rendition-case\\\/\",\"name\":\"Government seeks secret trial in MI6 \u2018rendition\u2019 case\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reprieve.org\\\/uk\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reprieve.org\\\/uk\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/05\\\/update-government-seeks-secret-trial-mi6-rendition-case\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reprieve.org\\\/uk\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/05\\\/update-government-seeks-secret-trial-mi6-rendition-case\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.reprieve.org.uk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/11\\\/Belhaj.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-07-05T08:29:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-05-29T15:18:56+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reprieve.org\\\/uk\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/05\\\/update-government-seeks-secret-trial-mi6-rendition-case\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/reprieve.org\\\/uk\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/05\\\/update-government-seeks-secret-trial-mi6-rendition-case\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reprieve.org\\\/uk\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/05\\\/update-government-seeks-secret-trial-mi6-rendition-case\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.reprieve.org.uk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/11\\\/Belhaj.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.reprieve.org.uk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/11\\\/Belhaj.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reprieve.org\\\/uk\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/05\\\/update-government-seeks-secret-trial-mi6-rendition-case\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reprieve.org\\\/uk\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Government seeks secret trial in MI6 \u2018rendition\u2019 case\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reprieve.org\\\/uk\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reprieve.org\\\/uk\\\/\",\"name\":\"Reprieve - fighting for human rights around the world\",\"description\":\"Reprieve is a legal action non-governmental organisation (NGO).  We are investigators, lawyers and campaigners fighting for justice. We defend people who are facing human rights abuses, often at the hands of powerful governments.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reprieve.org\\\/uk\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reprieve.org\\\/uk\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reprieve.org\\\/uk\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Reprieve: Delivering justice and saving lives across the world\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reprieve.org\\\/uk\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reprieve.org\\\/uk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reprieve.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2020\\\/08\\\/Reprieve_MetaImage_Logo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reprieve.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2020\\\/08\\\/Reprieve_MetaImage_Logo.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":500,\"caption\":\"Reprieve: Delivering justice and saving lives across the world\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reprieve.org\\\/uk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/ReprieveHQ\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/reprieve\",\"https:\\\/\\\/instagram.com\\\/@reprievehq\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/967614\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reprieve.org\\\/uk\\\/author\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Government seeks secret trial in MI6 \u2018rendition\u2019 case","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/2017\/07\/05\/update-government-seeks-secret-trial-mi6-rendition-case\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Government seeks secret trial in MI6 \u2018rendition\u2019 case","og_description":"The couple were seized and \u2018rendered\u2019 to Gaddafi\u2019s Libya in 2004 in a joint CIA-MI6-Libyan operation.","og_url":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/2017\/07\/05\/update-government-seeks-secret-trial-mi6-rendition-case\/","og_site_name":"Reprieve","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ReprieveHQ\/","article_published_time":"2017-07-05T08:29:08+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-05-29T15:18:56+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.reprieve.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Belhaj.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@reprieve","twitter_site":"@reprieve","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"","Estimated reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/2017\/07\/05\/update-government-seeks-secret-trial-mi6-rendition-case\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/2017\/07\/05\/update-government-seeks-secret-trial-mi6-rendition-case\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"Government seeks secret trial in MI6 \u2018rendition\u2019 case","datePublished":"2017-07-05T08:29:08+00:00","dateModified":"2020-05-29T15:18:56+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/2017\/07\/05\/update-government-seeks-secret-trial-mi6-rendition-case\/"},"wordCount":443,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/2017\/07\/05\/update-government-seeks-secret-trial-mi6-rendition-case\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.reprieve.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Belhaj.jpg","articleSection":["Update"],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/2017\/07\/05\/update-government-seeks-secret-trial-mi6-rendition-case\/","url":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/2017\/07\/05\/update-government-seeks-secret-trial-mi6-rendition-case\/","name":"Government seeks secret trial in MI6 \u2018rendition\u2019 case","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/2017\/07\/05\/update-government-seeks-secret-trial-mi6-rendition-case\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/2017\/07\/05\/update-government-seeks-secret-trial-mi6-rendition-case\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.reprieve.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Belhaj.jpg","datePublished":"2017-07-05T08:29:08+00:00","dateModified":"2020-05-29T15:18:56+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/2017\/07\/05\/update-government-seeks-secret-trial-mi6-rendition-case\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/2017\/07\/05\/update-government-seeks-secret-trial-mi6-rendition-case\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/2017\/07\/05\/update-government-seeks-secret-trial-mi6-rendition-case\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.reprieve.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Belhaj.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.reprieve.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Belhaj.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/2017\/07\/05\/update-government-seeks-secret-trial-mi6-rendition-case\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Government seeks secret trial in MI6 \u2018rendition\u2019 case"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/#website","url":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/","name":"Reprieve - fighting for human rights around the world","description":"Reprieve is a legal action non-governmental organisation (NGO).  We are investigators, lawyers and campaigners fighting for justice. We defend people who are facing human rights abuses, often at the hands of powerful governments.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/#organization","name":"Reprieve: Delivering justice and saving lives across the world","url":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/08\/Reprieve_MetaImage_Logo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/08\/Reprieve_MetaImage_Logo.jpg","width":1000,"height":500,"caption":"Reprieve: Delivering justice and saving lives across the world"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ReprieveHQ\/","https:\/\/x.com\/reprieve","https:\/\/instagram.com\/@reprievehq","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/967614"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"","url":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/author\/"}]}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Reprieve","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/50"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11042"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11042\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16915,"href":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11042\/revisions\/16915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}