UK: Reprieve complains after Cabinet Office refuses to disclose role in non-prosecution decision
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Human rights group Reprieve has complained to the information commissioner over the UK government’s refusal to disclose whether it was involved in a decision not to prosecute anyone over a covert operation to kidnap Libyan dissidents.
Earlier this year, the Crown Prosecution Service said there was insufficient evidence to prosecute MI6 officials over a 2004 joint CIA-MI6 operation to abduct two Libyan dissidents in south-east Asia and fly them to Libya.
A Freedom of Information request submitted in May by Reprieve, asking whether Cabinet Office ministers or staff spoke to the CPS about the investigation, was refused.
The Cabinet Office said in its response that it “could neither confirm nor deny whether any relevant information is held”.
However, the Foreign Office did respond to an identical request from Reprieve, in which it stated that none of its ministers or staff had met or corresponded with the CPS about the issue.
The discrepancy has led Reprieve to lodge an official complaint with Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham.
In its complaint, the group any contact between the Cabinet Office and the CPS “could represent unacceptable political interference in an investigation into serious crimes committed by UK officials”.
It did not see why the Foreign Office could give a substantial response but the Cabinet Office could not.
Cori Crider, a lawyer at Reprieve (pictured), told The Guardian: “Was there subtle political pressure not to bring charges? This response undermines confidence in the whole process.”
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