13 May 1993
Peter Bottomley Esq MP
House of Commons
London
SWIA OAA
Foreign & Commonwealth Office
London SWIA 2AH
6
HICD 384
3
18 MAY 1993
T
Pete
From The Minister of State
M Manns
ms
17/5
Barnes Jones
Mr Woodrow
+ fa
Thank you for your. letter of 29 April about Lorrain Osman.
Mr Osman has been in detention since 6 December 1985.
He was held in custody in the United Kingdom until 15 December 1992 when he was extradited to Hong Kong.
Mr Osman made a total of ten applications for habeas corpus, all of which failed. You might like to note what Lord Justice Woolf said in his judgement following the rejection of Mr Osman's sixth habeas corpus application:
"There is no doubt it is deeply disturbing that after this period of time, after Mr Osman has been in custody in prison in this country for far too long, it should still be uncertain whether he is to be returned to Hong Kong. However, when you look at the history(.....)it appears to me that this is a situation that Mr Osman has brought upon himself by his own actions, as a result of a deliberate course of conduct upon which he has embarked, designed to use the machinery of
this Court and other courts as a way preventing his return to Hong Kong.
of
"It appears to me that this is a situation where he has embarked upon a war of attrition designed to wear down the Hong Kong Government, so as to prevent his return. I have no doubt whatsoever that when the present application is considered in the context of the previous applications, it is indeed an abuse of process of the Court. It is using the machinery of the Court for purposes for which it should not be used."
تلسلال
ALASTAIR GOODLAD
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