HC Deb 27 February 1957 vol 565 c1229
34. Mr. Warbey

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will publish the text of the Address presented to Her Majesty on 18th December by the Ruler of Bahrain acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in the Colonial Prisoners Removal Act, 1869.

Mr. Ian Harvey

Yes, Sir. As the document is in Arabic the original is not of much service to the majority of hon. Members, but I have arranged for a translation to be available in the Library of the House.

Mr. Warbey

While I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for agreeing to publish this document, which I was not able to obtain when I first applied for it in the Library of the House, may I ask whether the document will make it clear that the Government have acted illegally in transporting three Bahraini convicts to St. Helena for incarceration for 14 years?

Mr. Harvey

The hon. Member asked whether we would publish the document, and I answered, "Yes." What views the hon. Member may form on the document will depend upon his reading it.