14. Mr. R. C. Mitchellasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many British citizens he estimates are in prison in the Soviet Union and other Communist satellite countries.
Mr. MitchellWhat representations have been made by the Government to try to secure the release of these people in Communist prisons? I hope that the House will always be fair, and that whether a British subject is in prison in Portugal or a Communist country the same representations will be made by the Government.
§ Mr. AmeryWe have not made representations in these three cases because we have no standing to do so, in view of the nature of the charges.
§ Mr. Biggs-DavisonNevertheless, will the Government use their influence in these cases? When my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary said that the case was sub judice, does not that denote the beginning of a judicial case? Do we understand that no case has been preferred against that British subject?
§ Mr. AmeryMy hon. Friend must have misunderstood me. I did not say that the case was sub judice. All I said 481 was that we had no grounds on which to intervene. We have had consular access, and we are satisfied that the courts in those countries acted according to the law prevailing there.