Naming British marine who murdered Afghan prisoner was justified - judges
|
Version 0 of 1. The case of a British marine convicted of murdering a wounded Afghan detainee was of such great public interest that his identity had to be revealed despite a fresh assessment from government terrorism experts that he and his family could be at risk from Islamic extremists, three of the UK's leading judges have said. Sergeant Alexander Blackman retained his anonymity throughout his high-profile court martial and was only named after his conviction when media organisations, including the Guardian, argued it was in the public interest to know who he was. The man known during his trial as Marine A was finally named and his photograph published the day before he was jailed for a minimum of 10 years. Revealing their reasons for allowing Blackman to be identified, three judges including the lord chief justice, Lord Thomas, explained on Tuesday that the unique nature of the case meant there needed to be "overwhelming" reasons to continue to protect his identity. In their ruling at the high court in London, they said: "The case is of the greatest public interest, involving as it does a unique charge of murder against soldiers on military operations against a wounded detainee. There is therefore the greatest public interest in the whole of the proceedings being publicly reported. It would require an overwhelming case if a person convicted of murder in the course of an armed conflict were to remain anonymous." Blackman was found guilty by a court martial board last month. He was caught on video shooting a badly wounded insurgent in the chest then telling him: "Shuffle off this mortal coil you cunt." He has said he will appeal against his sentence and tens of thousands of people have signed a petition calling for clemency. His wife, Claire, has said he is ashamed but insisted he believed the prisoner was dead when he opened fire. It has emerged that before clearing the way for Blackman to be identified, the three high court judges considered a report by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC), which is based at MI5's headquarters at Thames House in London. JTAC concluded that if Marine A was named the potential threat from Islamist terrorists would increase, adding: "It is possible that the release of any personal information might encourage attack planning where none had previously existed." But the judges argued that he could be protected firstly by the prison authorities and after his release by the Ministry of Defence. His family would also be offered protection. They said: "The prison authorities will be well aware of that risk and take steps to minimise it, as they do for other offenders at risk of attack in prison such as paedophiles." They said the threat to Blackman on release and to his family was a "known risk" and there was "nothing to suggest" the MoD would not take steps to protect the marine and his relatives. The judges concluded: "Balancing those considerations, we have no doubt that the balance comes very firmly down on the side of open justice: the identity of Marine A must be made public." Two of the judges, Lord Thomas and Mr Justice Tugendhat, ruled that the identifies of two other marines, who were cleared of murder, ought to be revealed in the interest of open justice. They said: "They have returned to service. The MoD has taken steps to protect them and their families and there is nothing to suggest that this will not continue." Mr Justice Holroyde disagreed and said that he felt these two – still known only as B and C -– ought to retain their anonymity. The pair have until later this week to say if they want to continue to fight to remain anonymous. All three judges agreed that the judge advocate general, Jeff Blackett, had been right to prevent a video showing events leading up to the murder and the shooting itself from being released to the media. The British government had argued that the video would be used as a recruiting tool by terrorists and would put the lives of service personnel and the public at risk. The three high court judges said Blackett had been correct to prevent it being released. Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. |