NatWest hot air

Anthony

I could be wrong, but as far as I recall, the issue was not so much that the US is a justice hellhole of Sudanese proportions, but that a) they were extradited on the basis of a non-reciprocal extradition treaty [Congress has neglected to ratify the American side of it, while the British government has extended the benefits to the Americans regardless] whereby the US government can do things to British citizens that the British government cannot do to US citizens and b) it was seen as the abuse of a mechanism that was set up to deal with international terrorism, not business naughtiness - judicial "mission creep", if you like. Now, both these concerns may be misplaced. I didn't follow the story particularly closely. But it seems to me that you basically deal with them in your article by ignoring them and setting up something approaching a straw man (though I agree that the tone of much of the coverage at the time did seem very sniffy). Furthermore, the guilt or innocence of the people concerned seems to me to be of only tangential relevance to the concerns raised above.

Bob Doney

Well, they didn't actually have a trial, did they? You know, a trial where all the evidence and the witnesses are dragged before a jury who then have to say on the evidence that the prosecution have proved beyond all reasonable doubt that they are guilty of the offence. In fact it's quite hard to see how the American Way of threatening something life-destroying if you don't accept a tempting little lesser offence has much more to do with justice than some tinpot ramshackle religious court in Sudan.

Ross

The US system of threatening defendants with decades inside unless the accept a minor charge and serve a couple of years guarantees that a lot of innocent people will plead guilty. The fact that they've accepted a plea bargain proves nothing in itself. That doesn't mean that they are innocent but it doesn't mean that they actually are guilty let alone GUILTY.

Jonny Newton

The fact that they have pleaded guilty tells us very little, given that it is often sensible to accept a plea bargain even if you aren't guilty.

LDN Calling

Do you know for once I agree with you, of course they are guilty, they had their snouts right in the Enron trough along with everyone else. The worst part of this for me was blatant anti American, they will never get a fair trial in America clap trap especially from The Telegraph. Anyone hear the Telegraphs old boss Conrad Black on the Today Programme this morning (I know It's a bit BBC leftie for you Spectator types) that man is in some serious denial. I'm starting to warm to this blog I will keep reading.