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Cageprisoners
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02 December 2009

PRESS RELEASE: Cageprisoners welcomes High Court Ruling on the ban on the use of secret evidence.


The High Court ruled yesterday that the use of secret evidence to deny bail to those accused of terrorism was unlawful. The ruling echoes the Law Lords decision in June which similarly banned the use of secret evidence but in the imposition of control orders.

Cageprisoners feels that these are positive steps being made by the judiciary to claw back some of the civil liberties which became eroded in the years following 9/11. The injustices perpetrated in the past few years by the US and their allies in the name of security have proven to be failures: not only have they been unsuccessful in combating the true threats which they face but they have created new injustices. The experience of the past few years should show that it is never legitimate to curtail the rule of law or due process. This is especially the case if it is these things which you are attempting to protect. In the end this will always be self defeating.

The use of secret evidence destroys the safeguards built into any legal system as it prevents anyone from mounting a defence against the charges being brought against them. In this case it was used to deny defendants the liberty afforded to them by bail.

Cageprisoners spokesperson Moazzam Begg said:

“It is a lesson we should have learned a long time ago, that to give up due process to the power of the executive in the fight against an enemy, real or perceived, within our own borders will only lead to one place: the abuse of power by that same executive. Yesterday the High Court has remembered that. ”

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Cageprisoners is a human rights NGO that exists to raise awareness of the plight of the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and other detainees held as part of the War on Terror. We aim to give a voice to the voiceless.

Give a voice to the voiceless.

Cageprisoners Ltd.
27 Old Gloucester Street
London
WC1N 3XX

Telephone: (+44) 203 167 4416
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Web: www.cageprisoners.com