§ 44. Mr. Warbeyasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs why he agreed to the request of the Ruler of Bahrain that arangements should be made for the detention in St. Helena of Bahraini subjects convicted in the Ruler's courts.
§ Mr. Ian HarveyHis Highness the Ruler of Bahrain and his predecessors have been in friendly treaty relations with Her Majesty's Government since the early nineteenth century. It is therefore hardly a matter for surprise that Her Majesty's Government agreed to the Ruler's request that three foreign-inspired political agitators convicted of very serious crimes should not serve their prison sentences on the small island of Bahrain where they might have provided a focus for continued unrest and demonstrations by the more irresponsible element in the local population.
§ 45. Mr. Warbeyasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether, before agreeing to the detention in St. Helena of citizens of Bahrain convicted in the courts of the Ruler of Bahrain, he satisfied himself that the persons concerned were fairly tried and properly convicted, that the trials in such courts were conducted in accordance with civilised modern procedure and the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights; and what advice he received from the legal adviser to the British Residency on this matter.
§ Mr. Ian HarveyThe Answer to the first part of the Question is that my right hon. and learned Friend was satisfied that the prisoners had been properly convicted by a court duly constituted according to the law of Bahrain. Since the court was a judicial organ of the Bahrain Government, it would not have been proper for him to enter into the other matters to which the hon. Member refers. They are to a large extent matters of opinion.
In answer to the second part of the Question, I cannot reveal what advice my right hon. and learned Friend received from a particular official.