Parole For Samar Alami And Jawad Botmeh

EDM number 1440 in 2005-06, proposed by John Austin on 23/01/2006.

That this House notes that Samar Alami and Jawad Botmeh's 1996 convictions for conspiracy in relation to the 1994 bombings at the Israeli Embassy and Balfour House have been widely questioned; further notes Amnesty International's concerns that they were denied the right to a fair trial; further notes that the prosecution scenario of an `intelligence vacuum' contrasts with the Israeli and British authorities receiving prior warnings about imminent attacks by parties unrelated to Samar or Jawad; further notes the repeated use of public interest immunity certificates to withhold evidence; calls on the Government to re-open the investigation and release the evidence so justice is done and seen to be done; is concerned at the Home Secretary's decision in December 2005 not to grant parole to Jawad; understands seven reports were prepared by the prison and probation services and by a psychologist with political expertise of which six reports assessed Jawad to be suitable for parole and one made no recommendation but deferred to the political expert's reports both of which recommended parole; further notes that the political expert concluded Jawad represents the `moderate Palestinian viewpoint'; and that representations were received from the Palestinian Authority leadership that Jawad presents no risk and his release will assist the prospects for the peace process; believes that winning the war on terror and this country's reputation for fairness and justice amongst its allies in the `moderate' Palestinian and Arab communities are ill-served by refusing release in these circumstances; and calls on the Government to release Samar Alami and Jawad Botmeh on parole.

This motion has been signed by a total of 23 MPs.