{"id":11633,"date":"2017-11-02T10:19:24","date_gmt":"2017-11-02T10:19:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.reprieve.org.uk\/?post_type=update&p=11633"},"modified":"2020-05-29T15:19:41","modified_gmt":"2020-05-29T15:19:41","slug":"government-seeks-new-secret-court-measures-rendition-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/2017\/11\/02\/government-seeks-new-secret-court-measures-rendition-case\/","title":{"rendered":"Today – Government seeks new secret court measures in rendition case"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today the Government will argue in court that controversial \u2018secret court\u2019 measures, introduced in 2013, should be used for the first time in relation to a criminal case.<\/p>\n

At a High Court hearing this morning, the Foreign Office and the Director of Public Prosecutions will argue that a criminal matter relating to the 2004 rendition of a Libyan couple by MI6 should be heard in secret.<\/p>\n

Abdul-Hakim Belhaj<\/a>\u00a0and his wife Fatima Boudchar \u2013 who were \u2018rendered\u2019 to Gaddafi\u2019s Libya in a joint MI6-CIA-Libyan operation \u2013 are challenging the Crown Prosecution Service\u2019s decision in 2016 not to charge a former head of counter-terrorism at MI6, Sir Mark Allen, for enabling their kidnap.<\/p>\n

The Government is proposing to use so-called \u2018Closed Material Procedures\u2019 or CMPs, introduced under the 2013 Justice and Security Act, in defending its decision not to prosecute. The couple will argue in court tomorrow that the review of the CPS decision should not be heard in secret.<\/p>\n

Secret hearings have never before been used in a criminal case of this kind. The 2013 Act, a controversial law that introduced a system of secret hearings in civil trials, specifically excludes criminal matters from its scope.<\/p>\n

Under CMPs, victims, press and public are excluded from the courtroom and cannot hear the Government\u2019s case. The measures have attracted criticism, because of the unfair advantage they give Government in court, and because of the risk ministers could use the law to avoid embarrassment over past abuses.<\/p>\n

Documents uncovered in Libya in 2011 show that Sir Mark Allen took credit for the 2004 operation. Mr Belhaj and Ms Boudchar, who was pregnant at the time, were tortured at a CIA \u2018black site\u2019, before being sent to jails in Gaddafi\u2019s Libya. Mr Belhaj went on to be tortured for years and sentenced to death in a secret Libyan trial.<\/p>\n

London\u2019s Metropolitan Police spent over two years investigating the rendition, providing a file of over 28,000 pages of evidence to the CPS in June 2014. However, two years later, the CPS announced that it would not charge the lead suspect (Sir Mark) due to \u2018insufficient evidence\u2019. The CPS conceded that he was involved in the renditions and had \u201csought political authority for some of his actions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Commenting,\u00a0Cori Crider<\/a>, a lawyer for the family at human rights organisation Reprieve, said:<\/p>\n

\u201cMy client was sentenced to death in a secret Libyan trial \u2013 but he didn\u2019t expect Britain to follow in Gaddafi\u2019s footsteps. Abdul-Hakim and Fatima still don\u2019t understand why the CPS refused to file charges in this case, when the evidence showed a top MI6 officer helped send them to Gaddafi\u2019s torture chambers. Now CPS are hiding behind a cloak of secrecy to stop Abdul-Hakim and Fatima challenging their decision. This is just wrong \u2013 secret courts have no place in our system of criminal justice.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Rosa Curling, of the human rights team at law firm Leigh Day, said:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are extremely concerned by the government\u2019s attempt to expand the use of closed, secret hearings in cases such as our clients\u2019. The Justice and Security Act makes clear that closed hearings cannot take place in proceedings which are \u2018in a criminal cause or matter.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cOur clients are challenging a decision by the CPS not to prosecute those involved in the events which led to their kidnap and subsequent torture in Gaddafi\u2019s Libya. This decision is by its very nature a \u2018criminal cause or matter.\u2019 We hope the Courts will make clear this attempted expansion is not lawful and our criminal justice system will be protected from secret hearings.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My client was sentenced to death in a secret Libyan trial \u2013 but he didn\u2019t expect Britain to follow in Gaddafi\u2019s footsteps… <\/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-11633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-update"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nToday - Government seeks new secret court measures in rendition 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\/11\/02\/government-seeks-new-secret-court-measures-rendition-case\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Today - 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