Shayler court coverage has no mention of Gadafi
guardian article (re-entitled) | 29.10.2002 11:22
Top secret files shown to jury as Shayler court case opens
Former MI5 officer has no public interest defence, says QC
Richard Norton-Taylor
Tuesday October 29, 2002
The Guardian
Files containing highly classified intelligence collected by the security service MI5 were handed to a jury at the Old Bailey yesterday. They contained information, stamped top secret, about the IRA's arms supplies and training in Libya, a 135-page memorandum on IRA-Libya links between 1971 and 1996, the investigation of "subversive organisations" in the UK, and a note, headed Moscow Gold, on Soviet funding of the Communist Party of Great Britain.
"I ask you and trust you," Nigel Sweeney QC, told the jury, "not to reveal the contents to anyone else".
Mr Sweeney was opening for the prosecution on the first day of the trial of the former MI5 officer, David Shayler, 36, charged on three counts of breaking the Official Secrets Act, including disclosing information from telephone taps.
The documents, the jury was told, were copied by Mr Shayler who then passed them to the Mail on Sunday. On August 24 1997 the newspaper published articles about MI5, including one signed by Mr Shayler himself. The day before they appeared, Mr Shayler fled abroad, returning three years later, the jury was told.
Two payments totalling £37,000 were transferred to bank accounts held by Mr Shayler and his girlfriend, Annie Machon.
Mr Sweeney outlined his case to a jury of seven men and five women who were asked a series of questions by the trial judge Mr Justice Moses, before they were sworn in.
He asked whether they, their close relatives or close friends had "worked for or with" MI5, the secret intelligence service MI6, the government communications centre GCHQ, the armed forces, the police or civil service.
They were asked if they or close relatives or friends had been "directly affected by any acts of terrorism" and if they had ever held information subject to the secrets acts.
Mr Shayler is defending himself and sat on the lawyers' benches in court number two at the Old Bailey - next to his solicitor John Wadham, director of Liberty, the civil rights group, and facing the jury. He was wearing a dark suit with a Remembrance Day poppy in his buttonhole.
Mr Shayler has pleaded not guilty. Mr Sweeney told the jury that the former MI5 officer had told the police that he disclosed information, including "allegations of incompetence and mismanagement" within the security service in the public interest.
Mr Sweeney told the jury that whatever Mr Shayler's motives, whether good or bad or a mixture of the two, "in law they are irrelevant to the issues before you".
Mr Shayler had "no public interest defence", he said. That had been established by the law lords, "the highest court in the land". The lords had also ruled that the Official Secrets Act - which states that former members of the security and intelligence agencies are bound by a life-long duty of confidentiality - was compatible with the Human Rights Act which establishes the right to freedom of expression.
MI5, said Mr Sweeney had to be protected by a "shield of secrecy". Three times, he added, Mr Shayler had signed declarations referring to the Official Secrets Act, including a warning that he was liable to prosecution if he revealed information about MI5 without authority. Mr Shayler was vetted to "the highest level, including unrestricted access to top secret material". He had worked in MI5's sections dealing with "vetting, subversives, the Provisional IRA and Middle Eastern terrorism."
Mr Sweeney continued: "The unauthorised disclosure of any information even a single piece connected with a security service agent" may alert hostile powers to the existence of a British agent in their midst. "Even a single piece may be the last piece of the jigsaw to enable an agent to be identified".
To disclose information "lawfully", said Mr Sweeney, members of the security and intelligence agencies could go to another crown servant, including the prime minister, to civil servants, the director of public prosecutions, the police, the parliamentary ombudsman or the national audit office. He could seek authorisation from his former boss. If this was declined, he could ask for a judicial review and appeal against that decision if it went against them.
The jury was told that before leaving MI5 in October 1996, Mr Shayler copied or had copied 28 documents. "Four were classified top secret and 18 secret," Mr Sweeney said. They contained a "mass of information" relating to security or classified matters. Some of the documents had been written by Mr Shayler himself.
But he told the jury later: "As you look at the the documents all the prosecution has to do is to prove they relate to security and intelligence."
The jury was told that four MI5 officers would be called to give evidence.They would be identified only as A-D "for their own safety", said Mr Sweeney. They would also be screened so that the public could not see them. The trial continues today.
The spy who went into the cold
· Aged 36. Born in Middlesbrough. Educated at Dundee university
· November 1991 Joined MI5
· December 1991 Assigned to section of MI5 responsible for vetting government and other employees
· February 1992 Joined section dealing with 'subversives'
· August 1992 Assigned to section responsible for countering Irish Republican terrorism
· October 1994 Transferred to section responsible for countering Middle Eastern terrorism. Put in charge of section investigating Libyan state-sponsored terrorism
· October 1996 Left MI5
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,821250,00.html
Former MI5 officer has no public interest defence, says QC
Richard Norton-Taylor
Tuesday October 29, 2002
The Guardian
Files containing highly classified intelligence collected by the security service MI5 were handed to a jury at the Old Bailey yesterday. They contained information, stamped top secret, about the IRA's arms supplies and training in Libya, a 135-page memorandum on IRA-Libya links between 1971 and 1996, the investigation of "subversive organisations" in the UK, and a note, headed Moscow Gold, on Soviet funding of the Communist Party of Great Britain.
"I ask you and trust you," Nigel Sweeney QC, told the jury, "not to reveal the contents to anyone else".
Mr Sweeney was opening for the prosecution on the first day of the trial of the former MI5 officer, David Shayler, 36, charged on three counts of breaking the Official Secrets Act, including disclosing information from telephone taps.
The documents, the jury was told, were copied by Mr Shayler who then passed them to the Mail on Sunday. On August 24 1997 the newspaper published articles about MI5, including one signed by Mr Shayler himself. The day before they appeared, Mr Shayler fled abroad, returning three years later, the jury was told.
Two payments totalling £37,000 were transferred to bank accounts held by Mr Shayler and his girlfriend, Annie Machon.
Mr Sweeney outlined his case to a jury of seven men and five women who were asked a series of questions by the trial judge Mr Justice Moses, before they were sworn in.
He asked whether they, their close relatives or close friends had "worked for or with" MI5, the secret intelligence service MI6, the government communications centre GCHQ, the armed forces, the police or civil service.
They were asked if they or close relatives or friends had been "directly affected by any acts of terrorism" and if they had ever held information subject to the secrets acts.
Mr Shayler is defending himself and sat on the lawyers' benches in court number two at the Old Bailey - next to his solicitor John Wadham, director of Liberty, the civil rights group, and facing the jury. He was wearing a dark suit with a Remembrance Day poppy in his buttonhole.
Mr Shayler has pleaded not guilty. Mr Sweeney told the jury that the former MI5 officer had told the police that he disclosed information, including "allegations of incompetence and mismanagement" within the security service in the public interest.
Mr Sweeney told the jury that whatever Mr Shayler's motives, whether good or bad or a mixture of the two, "in law they are irrelevant to the issues before you".
Mr Shayler had "no public interest defence", he said. That had been established by the law lords, "the highest court in the land". The lords had also ruled that the Official Secrets Act - which states that former members of the security and intelligence agencies are bound by a life-long duty of confidentiality - was compatible with the Human Rights Act which establishes the right to freedom of expression.
MI5, said Mr Sweeney had to be protected by a "shield of secrecy". Three times, he added, Mr Shayler had signed declarations referring to the Official Secrets Act, including a warning that he was liable to prosecution if he revealed information about MI5 without authority. Mr Shayler was vetted to "the highest level, including unrestricted access to top secret material". He had worked in MI5's sections dealing with "vetting, subversives, the Provisional IRA and Middle Eastern terrorism."
Mr Sweeney continued: "The unauthorised disclosure of any information even a single piece connected with a security service agent" may alert hostile powers to the existence of a British agent in their midst. "Even a single piece may be the last piece of the jigsaw to enable an agent to be identified".
To disclose information "lawfully", said Mr Sweeney, members of the security and intelligence agencies could go to another crown servant, including the prime minister, to civil servants, the director of public prosecutions, the police, the parliamentary ombudsman or the national audit office. He could seek authorisation from his former boss. If this was declined, he could ask for a judicial review and appeal against that decision if it went against them.
The jury was told that before leaving MI5 in October 1996, Mr Shayler copied or had copied 28 documents. "Four were classified top secret and 18 secret," Mr Sweeney said. They contained a "mass of information" relating to security or classified matters. Some of the documents had been written by Mr Shayler himself.
But he told the jury later: "As you look at the the documents all the prosecution has to do is to prove they relate to security and intelligence."
The jury was told that four MI5 officers would be called to give evidence.They would be identified only as A-D "for their own safety", said Mr Sweeney. They would also be screened so that the public could not see them. The trial continues today.
The spy who went into the cold
· Aged 36. Born in Middlesbrough. Educated at Dundee university
· November 1991 Joined MI5
· December 1991 Assigned to section of MI5 responsible for vetting government and other employees
· February 1992 Joined section dealing with 'subversives'
· August 1992 Assigned to section responsible for countering Irish Republican terrorism
· October 1994 Transferred to section responsible for countering Middle Eastern terrorism. Put in charge of section investigating Libyan state-sponsored terrorism
· October 1996 Left MI5
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,821250,00.html
guardian article (re-entitled)