Christopher Tappin Update

He was denied bail--surprise, surprise.

All that evidence the US Justice Department should have been required to disclose to a British judge in order to obtain a legal extradition was presented in court in El Paso, complete with much bluster from the prosecutor--who knows he damned well better win if he doesn't wish to spend the rest of his career defending DUI's in some county in New Mexico.

He is considered a dangerous man, a flight risk, an evil-doer. Therefore, he is in jail, being slowly broken down in the attempt to extort a guilty plea.

Really? Perhaps the US government does not want this man on the street because he has a story to relate about the behavior of the US government--the one that used him as an informant (a reliable, upstanding informant) in order to obtain a conviction in another case. 

So, boyz--which is it?  This from the Forbes article listed above:

Simultaneously, the U.S. government is citing Tappin for his valuable cooperation in a federal crime (Sky), while at the same time claiming that he is involved in activities of shipping military goods to Iran. So which is Tappin, friend or foe?...or both?

Again, OS won't judge one way or another regarding Mr. Tappin's guilt or innocence--who can say from this distance?

But we know this about the US federal government: It sold missile batteries to the Iranians, then later set up a dummy company to see if it couldn't entrap people supposedly aiming to sell electric batteries for the missiles it had sold the Iranians. (Following this so far?) It managed to entrap a UK citizen, and force him to roll over, which he did not do--likely because he may well be innocent. Remember the concept of 'innocent until proven guilty'? Then it decided to make him An Object Lesson, and trampled on both UK law, treaty law, and US law to haul him out retirement, stick his ass in a south Texas jail, where he had to request solitary confinement for his own safety. He's not allowed even a book, and the light never goes off. Once he becomes borderline suicidal, they'll offer him a 'deal'. Otherwise, they'll just let him die in jail, forever silenced.

OS does not care whether Mr. Tappin is guilty or innocent of the charges. He is no threat to our safety whatsoever, compared to a US government that has decided it is the law, and our lives are subject to being ground up in its maw at any moment.

David Cameron's complicity with the US government is tragically shameful. Words fail to describe a man who happily scarfs down hot dogs at a basketball game in Ohio (which event, by the way, set the taxpayers back several million borrowed dollars) and lets his countryman rot in a Texas jail. By the way, Obama still plans to throw the people of the Falklands to the Argentine wolves. Enjoy that hot dog, Dave--that picture will circulate and circulate and circulate at your next election.

People such as this are capable of anything.

Jo Johnson, MP For Orpington, Confronts David Cameron On The Tappin Extradition: Cameron Attempts To Slither Away

From 22 February PMQ's:

Jo Johnson: On Friday, United States marshals will escort my 65-year-old constituent Chris Tappin from Heathrow to a jail in Texas, where he will face pressure to plea bargain in order to avoid lengthy incarceration pending a financially ruinous trial for a crime that he insists he did not commit. What steps is the Prime Minister considering to reform the US-UK extradition treaty, which has been so unfair to the likes of Gary McKinnon and, now, my constituent Mr Tappin?

The Prime Minister: I quite understand why my hon. Friend has raised the case of his constituent. Obviously Chris Tappin has been through a number of processes, including those of the magistrates court and the High Court, and the Home Secretary has thoroughly considered his case.

My hon. Friend has also raised the more general issue of Sir Scott Baker's report on the extradition arrangements, which he has completed and which we are now considering. He did not call for fundamental reform, but my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary will examine his findings carefully, and will also take into account the views of Parliament that have been expressed in recent debates. Of course, balancing the arguments is vital, but I think it important for us to remember at the same time why we enter into these extradition treaties: to show respect for each other's judicial processes, and to make sure that people who are accused of crimes can be tried for those crimes—and Britain can benefit from that as well. A proper, sober, thoughtful review needs to take place, and this case shows why.

In other words, Mr. Johnson, we plan to do precisely zilch, and you are an ungrateful yob for even raising the question. 

Christopher Tappin Case: Solitary Confinement At His Request, Bail Application, And Two Fascinating Facts

Tappin is in jail in El Paso, in solitary at his own request. He has a bail hearing set for Friday. If denied bail, it will be tough to mount a defense...which is why bail will be opposed with vigor. The last thing the prosecutor in El Paso wants is much probing into the real facts of the case.

Like this one:    The weapons system, owned by the Iranians,  he is alleged to have conspired to supply parts to was actually given to the Iranians in the 1980's by (drumroll please!!) the US Gubbermint.

Sweet.

Or this one:  The batteries for the weapons system, owned by the Iranians, given to the Iranians by the US Gubbermint, were offered to Mr. Tappin by (drumroll and brass-band fanfare!!) a fake firm set up by the US Gubbermint, a firm set up to deliberately entrap potential evil-doers.

Oooohhhh, that's even sweeter!

Certainly, the federal prosecutor in El Paso will be performing the full-court-press to extract a guilty plea, of any sort, from Mr.Tappin. Otherwise, his office will be required to cough up allllll evidence they say they have against him, and in the end it may all hinge on the word of one over-ambitious federal agent running the sting who has every reason in the world to lie to the jury about his activities.

Now, OS has no opinion concerning the guilt or innocence of Mr. Tappin. But it doesn't take a genius to conclude that this republic and its freedoms under the rule of law are under much more threat from a government that gives weapons systems to mullahs and spends its energies setting up sham corporations to create defendants, than from the mullahs and their aging weapons systems.

Sunlight is the best disinfectant. OS predicts that as more light is allowed into this dark and slimy corner of US law enforcement, and David Cameron's complicity and cowardice, the case will fall apart. With any luck, some law enforcement, legal and political careers will go down in flames with it.

If you're reading from the UK--keep turning up the heat. Mrs. Tappin testified before Parliament yesterday, and received wide coverage. It's a good start.

If reading from the US--keep following the story. Just like the MF Global scandal, this case has huge implications for us all. If the 'Justice Department' gets away with this one, none of us are safe in our homes and business will become increasingly perilous to conduct.

By the way, none of this, none of it, has served to restrain Iranian behavior in the least way. So don't for  a moment think this case is about 'The War On Terror'. The terrorists are doing just fine, thank you.

The real war, increasingly, is on us.