Main Content

False imprisonment - a contrast from the news

Archive - Originally posted on "The Horse's Mouth" - 2007-03-15 11:39:13 - Graham Ellis

Two items of news struck me yesterday as I fought my way home through horrendous traffic from Cambridge.

I was delighted to learn that the five British diplomats who had been kidnapped in Ethiopia had been released, and were fit and well - there remains, though, a concern for the 8 local people kidnapped with them.

Another false imprisonment story is that of Michael and Vincent Hickie, and others, jailed and held for 19 years for a 1978 murder in a gross miscarriage of justice. Although they were released in 1997, the story made the headlines again yesterday as the two of them have just lost their case against what is, in effect, a bill for 19 years of board and lodgings to be docked from their compensation.

If Michael and Vincent have to pay for their accommodation when they were held against their will, are all reasonable steps being taken to also ensure that the five British diplomats make appropriate payments to their captors in the Afar / Eritrean region?