NatWest three head to the US
Three bankers accused of fraud by the US authorities have today been extradited to Texas, under a treaty that MPs last night voted symbolically to suspend.
The case of David Bermingham, Giles Darby and Gary Mulgrew, the so-called NatWest three, has caused a major row in Britain as politicians from all sides of the divide argued that their extradition to the US was unfair.
Yesterday, MPs took part in an emergency debate on the treaty agreed with the US to speed up the extradition of terror suspects after September 11th. Critics argued that until congress ratified it, the UK should not have to enforce its provisions.
Both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats warn that until ratification, the UK is required to provide a higher level of proof to extradite US citizens than vice versa.
In a highly unusual move, MPs decided to take a vote on a proposal to suspend the treaty until it was ratified by congress. It was passed by 246 votes to four, although because it is not binding in any way, the government did not bother voting.
It came after the Lords on Tuesday night voted 218 to 116 to suspend the treaty and to impose a new test whereby a British judge would have to decide that it was “in the interests of justice” for a UK citizen to be extradited to another country.
Although the gestures come too late for the NatWest three, Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Nick Clegg said he hoped the government would act to prevent a similar situation in the future.
“The purpose.has been to prevent serious injustice for those who face extradition to the USA or may do so in future – injustice because the extradition treaty and its enactment through the Extradition Act 2003 is manifestly unfair to British citizens,” he said.
Questioned on the issue in the House of Commons yesterday, however, Tony Blair insisted the suggestion that it was easier to extradite people from the UK to the US than the other way around “is wrong according to the information that I have”.
“In the attorney general’s view, the test that the US applies – probable cause – is roughly analogous to the test that we apply in this country,” he told MPs.
“But secondly, and perhaps more important. even under the old test of having to provide prima facie evidence, those people would still be extradited. Indeed, the case for extradition was originally mounted under the old law, not the new one.”
However, the prime minister said he totally understood concerns that the NatWest three may not be granted bail, and fears that they may have to spend up to two years waiting for their trial in a maximum security jail in the US.
“The attorney general has spoken to the US Department of Justice and has been informed that the American prosecutors will not oppose bail as long as the appropriate conditions are put in place by the court or agreed by the defendants,” Mr Blair said.
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