§ Mr. Chris Smith (Islington, South and Finsbury)I wish to present a petition relating to the circumstances and the fate of Mr. Lorrain Osman who has been held on remand without trial in Pentonville prison for nearly four years—the longest serving prisoner without trial in this country this century.
The petition is signed by 500 people, including hon. Members from both sides of the House. The signatories also include Sir Hugh Casson, Margaret Drabble, Germaine Greer, Richard Hoggart, Alan Plater, Simon Rattle, Sir Roy Shaw and Jill Tweedie. The text of the petition reads as follows:
The humble petition of residents of the United Kingdom shewethThat Lorrain Osman has now been held…in Pentonville prison for 1,341 days without trial;That the original arrest warrant against him in Hong Kong has been quashed by the Appeal Court of Hong Kong;That the cases in Hong Kong against all his co-defendants save one have beendropped or dismissed; that there has been widespread prejudicial publicity in Hong Kong, some of it racialist in tone; and that should he be returned to Hong Kong and convicted he would, in 1997, be handed over to the authorities of the People's Republic of China whose recent barbarous acts are known to the whole world. Article 6 of the European convention on human rights, by which the United Kingdom is bound, requires that accused persons should be brought to trial promptly. The petition states that the law of Scotland defines "prompt" as 110 days.It then concludes:
Wherefore your petitioners pray that your Honourable House will ask the Home Secretary to comply with the treaties by which the country is bound and that he will exercise that discretion which he possesses to end Mr. Osman's inhumane and unjust incarceration.376 I have great pleasure in submitting the petition to the House.
§ To lie upon the Table.