§ 30. Mr. WinnickTo ask the Attorney-General what are his proposals in respect of the prosecution of Mr. Asil Nadir in the United Kingdom. [2921]
§ The Attorney-GeneralThe central criminal court has issued a warrant for the arrest of Asil Nadir, and Interpol has been informed. The Serious Fraud Office intends to proceed against him on charges of theft when he returns, or is returned, to the jurisdiction.
§ Mr. WinnickI do not suppose that Nadir mistook Turkey for Torquay.
I, too, welcome the Attorney-General to his position. What are the realistic chances that Asil Nadir will be brought to justice in this country? Will the Attorney-General promise today that he will try to persuade whoever is elected leader of the Tory party that all the stolen money that Nadir gave to the Tory party should be given to the appropriate authorities dealing with the liquidation? Would that not demonstrate that the Tory party is committed to the rule of law in practice?
§ The Attorney-GeneralI am sure that my hon. Friend is right to say that Turkey is not Torquay and that Mr. Nadir did not mistake the two places.
My hon. Friend will be aware that the Turkish authorities were requested by Interpol to arrest Nadir if he was found in Turkey. However, since Nadir is able to claim Turkish nationality and the Turkish constitution forbids the extradition of its nationals, the authorities there declined to arrest him. Therefore, I cannot, I fear, add to my hon. Friend's substantive point by giving him any realistic prospect as to when Nadir will be returned to the jurisdiction. Let me make it known—as my predecessor did—that, if Nadir does come here, he has nothing to fear from the English courts as regards a fair trial, which he will get at any time.
As for the use of any money given to any party, I have no responsibility for that whatever, and I am glad to say that.
§ Mr. StreeterI also welcome the Attorney-General to his Front-Bench position. Does he recall that, when he and his colleagues were on the Opposition Benches, they used to maintain week after week that it was a very simple matter to get Asil Nadir returned to this country, and that the only reason why the Government did not achieve it was the alleged connection with party funding? Now that he and his colleagues are in government, why can he not be more decisive in solving a problem that he thought was so simple when he was in opposition? Has the legal position changed, or has the Labour party stumbled on the truth?
§ The Attorney-GeneralThe hon. Gentleman is drawing on his imagination if he thinks for one moment that I ever suggested that this was a simple matter. As a lawyer, he must know the law and the extradition procedure. We do not recognise northern Cyprus, and therefore no extradition arrangement is in force. I have just told the House the present position on Turkey, and I have nothing to add. The legal position has not changed, as, I am sure the hon. Gentleman knows.
Mr. John D. TaylorDid the Attorney-General see "The Cook Report" television programme on Asil Nadir, 454 in which, contrary to one's expectations, the Serious Fraud Office and other agencies of the state, not Asil Nadir, were exposed for their deception and dishonesty? Is the Attorney-General satisfied that the agencies involved acted correctly?
§ The Attorney-GeneralI can assure the right hon. Gentleman that I did not have the advantage of seeing that television programme—like many of us in this place, I did not have the time. However, I have received a full report on the programme which, I am told, did not present an accurate or balanced picture of the investigation into Polly Peck International plc. I can add nothing to that. It would be wrong for me or the SFO to comment on that case any further, because the matter is obviously sub judice.