{"id":347577,"date":"2018-02-10T01:51:38","date_gmt":"2018-02-10T00:51:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/leaked-us-documents-can-be-used-as-evidence-rules-uk-supreme-court-rt-uk-news\/"},"modified":"2018-02-10T01:51:38","modified_gmt":"2018-02-10T00:51:38","slug":"leaked-us-documents-can-be-used-as-evidence-rules-uk-supreme-court-rt-uk-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/leaked-us-documents-can-be-used-as-evidence-rules-uk-supreme-court-rt-uk-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Leaked US documents can be used as evidence, rules UK Supreme Court \u2014 RT UK News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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In a groundbreaking ruling, the UK Supreme Court has said diplomatic cables leaked to WikiLeaks by whistleblower Chelsea Manning are admissible.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe Supreme Court unanimously holds that the [WikiLeaks] cable should have been admitted into evidence,”<\/em> the bench ruled<\/a> on Thursday, with five of the seven judges going against the lower court\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n

The ruling comes as a form of vindication for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who tweeted that it was a \u201cbig win\u2026 that will affect many court proceedings around the world: leaked diplomatic cables are admissible as evidence.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

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Big win at UK Supreme Court today in a judgment that will affect many court proceedings around the world: leaked diplomatic cables are admissible as evidence https:\/\/t.co\/cFPoj86GsK<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Julian Assange \u231b (@JulianAssange) February 9, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

The case was brought by Chagos Refugees Group, representing Chagos Islanders who were expelled from their home in the Indian Ocean by the UK in the 1960s and \u201970s. The islands were vacated to make way for a US Air Force base on Diego Garcia.<\/p>\n

The displaced islanders have been fighting to return to their homelands for decades. The UK government wants to make the islands a marine park. This would ban fishing, which would affect the Chagossians\u2019 ability to sustain a living should they be allowed to return home.<\/p>\n

Thursday\u2019s ruling focused on efforts to overturn a Court of Appeal decision that found there was no improper motive behind the marine park proposal.<\/p>\n

The appeal centered on a US government cable published by WikiLeaks as part of the tranche of documents given to the organization by whistleblower Chelsea Manning. The Chagos islanders said the document showed the UK\u2019s improper motive, but it had been excluded from proceedings earlier in the case.<\/p>\n

The Supreme Court ruled that \u201cthe cable should have been admitted into evidence before the Administrative Court,\u201d<\/em> adding that \u201ca majority of the Court dismisses the appeal on limb (i), that the exclusion of the cable by the Administrative Court could have had no material effect on the outcome regarding improper motive.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The 2009 cable<\/a> sent from the US embassy in London to Washington conveys the UK\u2019s interest in establishing a marine reserve in the area, which, the cable reads, \u201cwould in no way impinge on USG [US government] use of the BIOT [British Indian Ocean Territory], including Diego Garcia, for military purposes.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

According to the cable, the senior Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) official agreed the US and UK should negotiate \u201cto assure that U.S. interests were safeguarded and the strategic value of BIOT was upheld.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The UK official \u201csaid that the BIOT’s former inhabitants would find it difficult, if not impossible, to pursue their claim for resettlement on the islands if the entire Chagos Archipelago were a marine reserve,\u201d<\/em> the cable reads.<\/p>\n

It also refers to the government\u2019s thinking on the reserve that \u201cthere would be no human footprints\u201d<\/em> or \u201cMan Fridays\u201d<\/em> on the islands, and that the park would \u201cin effect, put paid to resettlement claims of the archipelago’s former residents.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

During the Administrative Court proceedings, objections were made about using the cable because of the UK\u2019s Official Secrets Act and the government\u2019s policy of \u201cneither confirm nor deny\u201d<\/em> when it comes to such documents. It was also argued that it breached diplomatic privilege, which the court agreed with.<\/p>\n

While the Administrative Court agreed the cable should not be used, the Court of Appeal said since the cable had already been disclosed to the world, admitting it into evidence wouldn\u2019t have violated the US mission to London\u2019s diplomatic privilege.<\/p>\n

Thursday\u2019s Supreme Court ruling also echoed the court\u2019s earlier findings that the cable\u2019s exclusion \u201chad no material effect on the proceedings\u201d<\/em> and would not have made a difference to the decision.<\/p>\n

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