HC Deb 27 July 1989 vol 157 c863W
Sir Trevor Skeet

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, since prisoners in Peruvian gaols have to provide for their own upkeep, what steps are being taken by Her Majesty's Government to ensure British nationals detained in Lurigancho prison have sufficient funds to obtain sustenance.

Mr. Sainsbury

[pursuant to the reply, 20 July 1989, c. 335]: The Peruvian prison authorities provide sustenance for all persons detained in their prisons. The food served is Peruvian fare.

All British nationals currently detained in Lurigancho prison are in receipt of funds from their relatives and friends in the United Kingdom for additional prison comforts.

Sir Trevor Skeet

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what information he has about the detention of John Boxall and Brian Tristram in a Peruvian gaol since 6 December 1988 and the reasons they have been detained without trial.

Mr. Sainsbury

[pursuant to the reply, 20 July 1989, c. 335]: Mr. Boxall and Mr. Tristram were detained by the Peruvian police on 6 December 1988 on suspicion of drug trafficking. They were formally charged on 27 December 1988 and remanded to Lurigancho prison. The judicial investigatory process is continuing. The delay in bringing them to trial is not unusual.

Sir Trevor Skeet

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps are being taken to ensure that John Boxall and Brian Tristram both of the county of Bedfordshire will be speedily brought to trial in Peru.

Mr. Sainsbury

[pursuant to the reply, 20 July 1989, c. 335]: Mr. Boxall and Mr. Tristram are legally represented and it is for their legal representative to seek to ensure that their trial is held as speedily as possible. He has taken action to this end. It would be contrary to internationally accepted practice for us to seek to interfere in the judicial process of an independent sovereign state. We would not tolerate such interference in our own judicial processes.

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