Torture row as Saudis free jailed Britons

Published on Saturday 9 August 2003 01:00

SEVEN Britons jailed over a bombing campaign in Saudi Arabia flew back to the UK last night after being granted clemency, amid a growing diplomatic row over their treatment by prison authorities.

Human rights groups and relatives of the seven men, including former Scots policeman Sandy Mitchell, have claimed the men were beaten and given electric shocks during their term in prison.

The men touched down at Heathrow airport last night after spending up to three years behind bars for a spate of deadly car bombings in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.

As they headed for a reunion with their friends and family, the men released a joint statement speaking of their relief at finally being freed.

They said: "We are delighted to be home. We would like to thank everyone for all their support, especially our families and friends. We would also like to thank those in the media who campaigned for and supported us."

The Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, whose department has received criticism for not publicly putting more pressure on the Saudis, said: "It has obviously been a very difficult time for the men and for their families. Ministers and officials have worked hard for this outcome."

Mr Mitchell, 44, from Kirkintilloch, near Glasgow, and William Sampson, who was born in Glasgow but holds a Canadian passport, had faced public beheading in the Riyadh’s notorious "chop-chop square" after being convicted of being the masterminds of a series of bomb attacks in 2000. The pair, who were arrested in December of that year, were originally accused of planting a car bomb that killed Briton Christopher Rodway, 47, and injured his wife, Jane.

The case came to public attention in the UK in February 2001 when both Mr Mitchell and Mr Sampson appeared live on Saudi television and read what appeared to be a prepared script confessing to the bombings. Although the men later withdrew those confessions, the Saudi government claimed that they amounted to a vindication of its actions.

Six months later four other Britons, James Cottle from Manchester, Peter Brandon from Cardiff, Les Walker from the Wirral, and James Patrick Lee from south Wales, were each serving 12-year sentences after they later admitted their roles in the campaign. A seventh Briton, Glenn Ballard, had been arrested in June last year and detained for the past ten months without charge.

The Saudi Embassy in London said last night that King Fahd had ordered that the time the Britons and a Belgian, who was also released, had already spent in prison was deemed to be sufficient punishment, and they were to be set free.

From the day of their arrest, the men’s relatives have said the charges were fabricated and that the bombings were the work of Islamic fundamentalists targeting Westerners.

Human-rights organisations claimed the men were tortured. They have also pointed to the work of Islamic fundamentalists who opposed the Saudi government’s close relationship with the American and British governments.

The Saudi defence lawyer, Salah Hejailan, said: "We had applied for clemency five months ago and I’m pleased that has been granted. Having said that, my clients have insisted all along that they are not admitting guilt."

Stephen Jakobi, director of the campaigning organisation Fair Trials Abroad, added: "We are absolutely delighted to hear this news. It sounds like a clean sweep on the British people, but we are concerned for a Belgian, Raf Schyvens, about whom there is no news."

The widow of Christopher Rodway said she was "shocked" by the news. Jane Rodway, 53, from Reading, Berkshire, who was in the car with her husband when the bomb went off, said: "I’m a bit worried because they all said they were innocent, and if they are, who did kill my husband and try to kill me?

"My understanding is they have been released through an act of clemency after my stepson forgave them. They are guilty men."

David Fyfe, a retired policeman who has known Sandy Mitchell since he was a teenager, said he was delighted that his friend had been released.

At his home in Kirkintilloch, Glasgow, he said: "I have absolutely no doubt that he has been tortured out there. If you had seen him three months before he had been arrested, we are talking about two different people from physical appearance.

"As far as planting bombs over booze, I just do not believe that for one moment."