TNAG-0720-FCO40-918-Capital-punishment-in-the-Dependent-Territories-1978 — Page 19

letter

D Simpson Esq

Director

Amnesty International Tower House

8-14 Southampton Street

BONDON WC2E 7HP

Secretary of State

Thank you for your letter of 25 January regarding the case of Sylvester Gaston in the British Virgin Islands,

As you will have seen from the copy of my statement in the House on 5 December which I enclosed with my letter of 7 December, the Government are prepared to review the policy on capital punishment in the Dependent Overseas Territories if that is Parliament's wish. I hope to bring the matter before the House shortly. Clearly, I cannot make any commitment until Parliament has made its wishes known: but if I am asked to advise on an appeal for mercy from Gaston, I shall take due account of all the viewe that have been expressed to me, including the representa tions you have made on behalf of your organization. It is, however, by no means certain that I shall need to consider the case: even if Gaston's appeal to the Privy Council is unsuccessful, his case will still have to be considered by the local Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy, who could advise the Governor to commute the sentence.