TOURMALINE. (Hansard, 3 May 1898)

§ MR. T. C. H. HEDDERWICK (Wick Burghs)

I beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury with what offence the members of the crew of the Tourmaline, arrested by command of the Sultan of Morocco, are charged; whether they have now been imprisoned without trial for a period of over 80 days; whether, in accordance with existing Treaties, British subjects arrested for alleged offences within the dominions of the Sultan of Morocco must be forthwith handed over to Her Majesty's Consular Representative in Morocco; and whether the Foreign Office have taken any, and what, steps in accordance with such Treaty rights, if existing, to procure the liberation of the prisoners referred to from Moorish custody, or otherwise to secure for them a speedy and fair trial?

§ THE FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURY

The action of the crew of the Tourmaline is regarded by the Moorish Government as one, not of smuggling, but of an attempt to introduce arms and ammunition into the country for the 184 purpose of raising an insurrection among the Sus tribes. The accused persons have been brought for a considerable distance overland by the Moorish authorities, and have been handed over, in accordance with the Treaty, to Her Majesty's Minister at Tangier. They will be charged before Her Majesty's Consular Court at that place, under Article 107 of the Morocco Order in Council, 1889, with smuggling arms and ammunition into the dominions of the Sultan of Morocco. Her Majesty's Minister has from the start exerted himself to procure the early surrender and trial of the prisoners, and has been throughout in constant communication with Her Majesty's Government on the subject.