Former Libyan Dissident Starts Legal Proceedings against Former UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw

Libyan commander and former dissident, Abdel Hakim Belhaj, has commenced legal proceedings against former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw alleging complicity in torture and misfeasance in public office.

Belhaj was abducted with his pregnant wife in Bangkok and flown via UK-controlled Diego Garcia to prison in Libya in a so-called rendition operation. Papers discovered in an abandoned Libyan government office outlined the role played by the UK’s Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), and in particular its head of counterterrorism, in providing the intelligence that led the CIA to detain Belhaj and his wife.

MI6 did not deny its involvement. Credible and well-placed sources insist that the actions were part of “ministerially-authorised government policy”. Only secretaries of state may authorise MI6 to “disapply” UK law, and these authorisations provide no protection for the politician.

It has been reported that SIS confronted Straw with evidence that he was the minister who authorised the operation, and it is understood that these reports triggered the decision by Belhaj’s lawyers to start proceedings against him. The papers reportedly also demand that Straw disclose documents relating to the rendition of a second Libyan dissident.

It is understood that this is the first time that proceedings of this nature have been taken against a former foreign secretary.

For further information, see:

The BBC

The Guardian