§ Peter BottomleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when Krishna Maharaj, a UK national, was arrested in Florida; and when the Consular service was officially informed of his arrest by(a) the Federal Authorities, (b) the State and (c) the local authorities. [122134]
§ Mr. MullinMr Krishna Maharaj was arrested on 16 October 1986 in Miami, Florida. Our consular officials in the USA were never officially informed of Krishna Maharaj's arrest by any Federal, State or local authorities.
Our consular staff in Atlanta first became aware of Mr. Maharaj's detention on 27 October 1988 when they were told of his presence on death row in the Florida State Prison by Professor Radelet, a death penalty researcher from the University of Florida. At the same time, Mr. Maharaj wrote to our embassy in Washington to alert them to his situation.
Our embassy in Washington wrote to the State Department on 19 January 1989 to formally complain that the Florida authorities did not notify the Consulate 207W General of Mr. Maharaj's arrest as they should have done under the bilateral UK/US consular convention. The State Department sent an apology on 20 May 1989.