From The Sunday Times
2 Dec 2007
" ... AMERICA has told Britain that it can "kidnap" British citizens if they are
wanted for crimes in the United States.
A senior lawyer for the American government has told the Court of
Appeal in London that kidnapping foreign citizens is permissible under
American law because the US Supreme Court has sanctioned it.
The admission will alarm the British business community after the case of
the so-called NatWest Three, bankers who were extradited to America on
fraud charges. More than a dozen other British executives,
including senior managers at British Airways and BAE Systems, are
under investigation by the US authorities and could face criminal
charges in America.
Until now it was commonly assumed that US law permitted kidnapping
only in the "extraordinary rendition" of terrorist suspects.
The American government has for the first time made it clear in a
British court that the law applies to anyone, British or otherwise,
suspected of a crime by Washington.
Legal experts confirmed this weekend that America viewed extradition as
just one way of getting foreign suspects back to face trial.
Rendition, or kidnapping, dates back to 19th-century bounty hunting and
Washington believes it is still legitimate.
The US government's view emerged during a hearing involving Stanley
Tollman, a former director of Chelsea football club and a friend of
Baroness Thatcher, and his wife Beatrice.
The Tollmans, who control the Red Carnation hotel group and are
resident in London, are wanted in America for bank fraud and tax
evasion. They have been fighting extradition through the British
courts.
During a hearing last month Lord Justice Moses, one of the Court of
Appeal judges, asked Alun Jones QC, representing the US government,
about its treatment of Gavin, Tollman's nephew. Gavin Tollman was the
subject of an attempted abduction during a visit to Canada in 2005.
Jones replied that it was acceptable under American law to kidnap
people if they were wanted for offences in America. "The United States
does have a view about procuring people to its own shores which is not
shared," he said.
He said that if a person was kidnapped by the US authorities in
another country and was brought back to face charges in America, no US
court could rule that the abduction was illegal and free him: "If you
kidnap a person outside the United States and you bring him there, the
court has no jurisdiction to refuse -- it goes back to bounty hunting
days in the 1860s."
Mr Justice Ouseley, a second judge, challenged Jones to be "honest
about [his] position".
Jones replied: "That is United States law." ... "
" ... AMERICA has told Britain that it can "kidnap" British citizens if they are
wanted for crimes in the United States.
A senior lawyer for the American government has told the Court of
Appeal in London that kidnapping foreign citizens is permissible under
American law because the US Supreme Court has sanctioned it.
The admission will alarm the British business community after the case of
the so-called NatWest Three, bankers who were extradited to America on
fraud charges. More than a dozen other British executives,
including senior managers at British Airways and BAE Systems, are
under investigation by the US authorities and could face criminal
charges in America.
Until now it was commonly assumed that US law permitted kidnapping
only in the "extraordinary rendition" of terrorist suspects.
The American government has for the first time made it clear in a
British court that the law applies to anyone, British or otherwise,
suspected of a crime by Washington.
Legal experts confirmed this weekend that America viewed extradition as
just one way of getting foreign suspects back to face trial.
Rendition, or kidnapping, dates back to 19th-century bounty hunting and
Washington believes it is still legitimate.
The US government's view emerged during a hearing involving Stanley
Tollman, a former director of Chelsea football club and a friend of
Baroness Thatcher, and his wife Beatrice.
The Tollmans, who control the Red Carnation hotel group and are
resident in London, are wanted in America for bank fraud and tax
evasion. They have been fighting extradition through the British
courts.
During a hearing last month Lord Justice Moses, one of the Court of
Appeal judges, asked Alun Jones QC, representing the US government,
about its treatment of Gavin, Tollman's nephew. Gavin Tollman was the
subject of an attempted abduction during a visit to Canada in 2005.
Jones replied that it was acceptable under American law to kidnap
people if they were wanted for offences in America. "The United States
does have a view about procuring people to its own shores which is not
shared," he said.
He said that if a person was kidnapped by the US authorities in
another country and was brought back to face charges in America, no US
court could rule that the abduction was illegal and free him: "If you
kidnap a person outside the United States and you bring him there, the
court has no jurisdiction to refuse -- it goes back to bounty hunting
days in the 1860s."
Mr Justice Ouseley, a second judge, challenged Jones to be "honest
about [his] position".
Jones replied: "That is United States law." ... "
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