TNAG-1994-FCO40-2841-Hong-Kong-extradition-laws-1989 — Page 52

waiver "of any immunity [Mr Osman] might enjoy" during the hearing

before the High Court on the claim for diplomatic immunity.

Mr Osman subsequently appealed to the House of Lords, and the

Liberian Ambassador (Givens) recently sent the FCO a further Note

claiming immunity for Osman. From a demarche we have made in

Monrovia to seek clarification of the current Liberian position, it

appears that Givens is acting without full authority. But we still

await a considered Liberian response.

5. Osman has had two applications for habeas corpus refused. He

has now asked that his appeal to the House of Lords be adjourned. He recently returned to the High Court with a fresh application for

habeas corpus in the light of the further Liberian note claiming immunity for him and recent developments in the Hong Kong courts. The application for a hearing has been granted.

6. The Hong Kong Court of Appeal quashed the original warrant

(issued on 30 November 1985) for Osman's arrest on the basis of

apparent bias, although no actual basis was alleged or found. The

problem arose because the magistrate in Hong Kong who issued the

warrant attended the offices of the Legal Department, rather than the relevant legal personnel attending his court. The Court of

Appeal found that, although it was accepted that there was a need

for secrecy, the attendance of the magistrate at the offices of the

Legal Department to consider the issue of the warrant might have

given the reasonable bystander the impression that the magistrate would not cnsider the matter impartially. The Court refused a declaration that the information had not been properly laid to commence criminal proceedings.

7. The quashed warrant was the first of three warrants. It sought

Osman's arrest on 16 charges; 9 of conspiracy to defraud and 7 of

accepting corrupt advantages. Two further warrants were issued on

20 January and 25 April 1986, the first on a total of 29 charges (11

of conspiracy to defraud, 11 of conspiracy to steal and 7 of

accepting corrupt advantages), and the second on a total of 43

charges (11 of conspiracy to defraud, 11 of conspiracy to steal, 7

of acceptiing corrupt advantages, 8 of theft and 7 of false

accounting). The Chief Magistrate at Bow Street, after hearing the