§ Mr. Stonehouseasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies to make a further statement about the references to the case of the Bahraini prisoners, now detained in St. Helena, that appeared in the Official Gazette of St. Helena.
§ Mr. H. FraserTheSt. Helena Gazette issued on 22nd December, 1956, did two things. First, it published the text of the Prisoners Removal (Bahrain and St. Helena) Order in Council. Secondly, it added a note of explanation solely to inform public opinion as to the possible scope of the Order.
The terms of this note were ambiguous and have been taken to imply that the prisoners had already been convicted. This was not in fact the case.
But this explanation of general purport was concerned not with the issue of guilt of which the Governor was naturally unaware but with informing the islanders that a number of detainees not exceeding five might be arriving in their country.