A major criminal trial involving two men charged with serious terrorism offenses could be held entirely in secret for the first time in modern British legal history.
Lawyers contesting the decision at the court of appeal on Wednesday said the plan amounted to “an unprecedented departure from the principles of open justice” and was “inconsistent with democracy and the rule of law.”
Until now it has not even been possible to report the existence of the forthcoming trial against the two men, known only as AB and CD, but three appeal court judges lifted a gagging order allowing reporting of a hearing challenging the plans.
The trial would be the first criminal case to be held behind closed doors for hundreds of years. It involves two defendants who are charged with terrorism, but whose names are being withheld from the public. Unless the appeal succeeds, journalists will be banned from being present in court to report the proceedings on June 16 or the outcome of the trial.
The men will be tried by a jury, but no report of the case will be made public, and no members of the media or public will be given access to the court.
Shami Chakrabati, director of the civil liberties campaign group Liberty, condemned the secrecy.
“Transparency isn’t an optional luxury in the justice system — it’s key to ensuring fairness and protecting the rule of law,” Chakrabati said. “This case is a worrying high water mark for secrecy in our courts — extensive restrictions set without robust reasons or a time limit. There must be clearer explanations before the door is shut on press and public.”
The Guardian and other media organizations made a last-ditch challenge to the secrecy surrounding the trial at the court of appeal.
The court was told that the crown has sought and obtained legal orders on the grounds of national security, arguing that if the trial were held in public the prosecution might not proceed.
Mari Reid, unit head of the counterterrorism team at the Crown Prosecution Service, gave evidence that there was a “serious possibility that the trial may not be able to go ahead” if it had to be held in public.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in