Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #annesacoolas
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#Breaking - Quite extraordinary opening to #AnneSacoolas's application to dismiss a civil claim against her by #HarryDunn's family - Sacoolas's lawyer says suspect AND her husband Jonathan working for US intelligence services was "especially a factor" in their departure
The Virginia court hears #AnneSacoolas "fear is that with the media attention she would not have a fair trial"... #HarryDunn
This gets even more extraordinary... #AnneSacoolas's barrister John McGavin is asked why the suspect "fled" the UK after the #HarryDunn crash... he says he cannot respond "completely candidly" - adding: "I know the answer but I cannot disclose it"
1/ #HarryDunn's parents' MP @andrealeadsom has confirmed to them that her position, like @DominicRaab's is that #annesacoolas probably did have immunity at the time of the crash but that it lapsed when she left, thus leading to her being charged by the CPS.
2/ The parents' position, and that of the DPP is that she did not and had she had immunity at the time of the crash she could not have been charged. The DPP made it clear that both the CPS and Police were deprived of the opportunity to investigate immunity last Sept by the FCO
3/ Had the FCO followed correct procedure and not kept the police and CPS in the dark until after AS left, the parents say they would have reached the same decision in Sept as they did in December and that she would still be here going through our justice system.
1/ This was @StateDept’s position in January on #annesacoolas “If the US were to grant the UK’s extradition request, it would render the invocation of diplomatic immunity a practical nullity and would set an extraordinarily troubling precedent.” That is a palpable absurdity
2/ Translated: “We never waive diplomatic immunity when our people break local laws and we are frightened that if we do so now we’ll have to do it every time in the future.
3/ Every single right minded rules based country in the world including 🇬🇧 waives immunity in these circumstances without hesitation. Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations provides for this and indeed encourages this practice.
1/ Notwithstanding denials emanating from the State Dept in Washington and US Embassy in London, it is a matter of public record that the US plan to expand "RAF" Croughton massively with 1300 additional personnel plus their dependents moving there. Moving the entrance and
2/ and making it significantly bigger are a mere hint of what is to come. Further planning applications. are to be made. #HarryDunn's family will not stand by while the US Govt think it is business as usual after #harrydunn died. There must be no expansion at Croughton until
3/ #annesacoolas is back and we are all satisfied that road safety issues are adequately addressed. We look forward to tomorrow's adjournment debate in Parliament and to the UK Govt fulfilling its first duty to us which is to protect and safeguard our lives.
FS @DominicRaab put a statement into Parliament on 20.12.19, the day #annesacoolas was charged, saying he had instructed his officials to discuss with the US how best to address the "anomaly" at the Croughton annex that gives dependants greater protection than US staff themselves
3/ That conversation would go something likes this:
UK: Will you agree with us that no CIA officer's spouse should ever be allowed to kill us again and just walk away? Please, it's really important. We have to fix it.
US: No way in hell. Now what r u going to do about it?!
UK: Will you agree with us that no CIA officer's spouse should ever be allowed to kill us again and just walk away? Please, it's really important. We have to fix it.
US: No way in hell. Now what r u going to do about it?!
1/ While @USAmbUK Woody Johnson nauseatingly tries to pretend in his posts on twitter that the current relationship between the US and the UK is a harmonious and balanced one, he and his colleagues in Washington are in reality behaving like a bully and an oppressor.
2/ Nowhere is this more apparent than in their approach to the tragic cases of #HarryDunn and #deansprouting where they have failed to do the right things by the family and ensure that those responsible for their deaths are held to account.
3/ They clearly take the position that the lives of UK citizens, and the feelings of their families are unimportant. The US Govt knows well that the injustice in both cases will be reversed and that there is no other way forward, hard as they try to sweep things under the carpet.
As we head into today's court hearing, #harrydunn's parents' position is: 1/ No one is above the law. 2/ In allowing CIA officers/their dependents to be based at RAF Croughton in the 1990s, the UK Govt at the time agreed with the US Govt at the time that that should be the case.
3/ Notwithstanding that, when Harry died, the UK Govt rolled up and acquiesced to the US Govt who decided to behave like an enemy in recalling #annesacoolas instead of an ally. In doing so, the UK Govt unlawfully abused its power in allowing Mrs S to leave.
4/ It was for the police to establish whether Mrs S had immunity from prosecution. Yet, the UK Govt kept them completely in the dark about the problems surrounding Mrs S' claim to immunity.
"On 13/9 the FCO was informed by the US embassy that it would not waive immunity and that the individual would be leaving the country imminently, unless the UK had strong objections. We duly and immediately objected in clear and strong terms, and we have done so ever since."
That was @DominicRaab's statement to the House of Commons on 21/10/19. No one has ever produced a scrap of evidence that the FCO objected to #annesacoolas' departure at all! The UKG are now insisting that neither Raab or @BorisJohnson were aware of #harrydunn until after AS left.
If Raab and Johnson, our so called big guns, were really oblivious to what was going on, just who did raise these strong objections on behalf of the UK, the USG having given them the chance to do so? 🤔
Worryingly for the U.K., @BorisJohnson is looking like he is seeking to appease @realDonaldTrump in the manner in which Neville Chamberlain appeased Hitler in Munich in the lead up to WW2. The relationship is now seriously warped as evidenced by the #annesacoolas affair. 
This is what a real leader looks like in the face of an oppressor and someone who stood up to a bully. What’s has happened to our bulldog spirit? We need people in power who are going to fight for our rights. #justice4harry
We cannot afford to be Donald Trump’s poodle, but that is who Boris has become, to our cost. Boris’ Government let #annesacoolas go unlawfully in the face of bullying from the US Govt. We need leaders who are going to do something about it. Leaders who have no fear. #harrydunn
1/ At a meeting with @DominicRaab on 27/1 at the FCO following the rejection of the extradition request by Pompeo on 23/1 and before Raab met Pompeo in London on 29/1, #HarryDunn's parents and I asked him what steps the UK were going to take in response to the rejection.
2/ We suggested strong action was now required incl expelling diplomats, imposing sanctions, stopping extraditions to the USA due to lack of reciprocity and closing the US bases. Mr Raab indicated that they were reviewing all their options but shockingly admitted that they were
3/ limited. "If we threaten them, look at the size of them compared to the size of us" he told us. But we could see he was angry and agreed to await his review of the various options before the campaign took any further steps. It was nonetheless worrying to hear a...
1/ Grateful to @DominicRaab for confirming today on #ridge that the govt is on #harrydunn's family's side, are deeply dissatisfied with the actions of the US govt and are doing all they can to get #annesacoolas back. That is their job. Unfortunately however, he was as evasive..
2/ as ever as to the govt's actions last September when asked if they acted lawfully and properly. It is the parents' position that he unlawfully allowed her to leave, keeping @NorthantsPolice in the dark about the claim to diplomatic immunity and then went on to mislead...
3/parliament on 21/10. Hence the call for him to return to the House to explain himself and to resign/be sacked. That period last September following Harry's death will go down as a dark moment in our history. Abuses of power were committed interfering in the police investigation
'Dominic Raab must resign or be sacked': Harry Dunn's parents on their long fight for justice theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/m…
Incredible feature written for The Guardian by @shattenstone. Unimaginable that this family are being tortured in this way in 21stC Britain, one of the greatest countries in the world. Team Harry will ensure they get much needed closure one day when #annesacoolas is back and all
Those responsible for letting her go are held to account. In meantime the media continue to do their important work speaking truth to power. On this occasion ITN’s reporting last Wednesday night was crucial in the search for the truth.
1/ I’ve had the privilege recently of speaking to senior serving and ex intelligence officers on both sides of the Atlantic. Every one of them is appalled at what’s happened to #HarryDunn’s family and I’m told there isn’t a single person either in CIA HQ in Langley Virginia or...
2/ MI6 in U.K. who agrees with #annesacoolas departing without facing justice. Importantly none could think of a single officer who is or who’s work is so important that would justify that officer being removed after such an incident in the UK. Many are embarrassed and feel that
3/ the name of the CIA is being tarnished. That sadly leaves us with the inevitable conclusion that this was purely a political decision on the part of the Trump administration who were aided and abetted by the most senior of government ministers in London. This sadly has...
1/ As the Guardian report today makes clear, the Foreign Secretary @DominicRaab appears to have misled Parliament in his statement to the House of Commons on 21 October 2019. Misleading Parliament is a serious matter. Mr Raab must now be called back to..
theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/m…
theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/m…
2/ to the House to explain himself. In particular, the following statements give rise to concern:
- He stated that Anne Sacoolas had diplomatic immunity at the time of crash yet his own officials cast doubt on that claim and it was ambiguous at best.
- He stated that Anne Sacoolas had diplomatic immunity at the time of crash yet his own officials cast doubt on that claim and it was ambiguous at best.
3/ - he failed to disclose to the House that the FCO kept Northants Police, who's job it was to establish if #annesacoolas had immunity, in the dark about the ambiguity and then allowed her to leave. Why did he conceal that from the house?
FCO say that @DominicRaab was unaware of the #harrydunn case when he attended the US embassy on 12/9. Yet he told House of Commons on 21/10: "On 28 August this year, the US embassy notified us that the spouse of a member of staff at RAF Croughton had been involved in an accident"
2/ This government are tonight in total disarray on the #annesacoolas affair. @DominicRaab has to go and there may well be others up the food chain who will have to as well. We will find out who was responsible for letting her go unlawfully and all involved must resign.
3/ The only question left to resolve is why they let her go. Question, did they put the trade deal with the USA ahead of the rights of young #harrydunn, a UK citizen, and his family? Again, we will find out. A scandal in the making that will shock the nation whatever the reason
1/ Following @neilconneryitv's report last night on ITV News and #harrydunn's mum's call for resignations, the UK Govt unsurprisingly now engaged in a last ditched attempt to protect an impossible political position through their chief spinner in the FCO @roxley.
2/ They volunteer, out of the blue, after 9 months, that @DominicRaab was unaware of the crisis before 12 Sept and that @BorisJohnson was only made aware after 15 Sept. If that is true, then they would disclose documents in support. They refuse to do so. We believe it is not true
3/ Docs disclosed in fact prove that both @DominicRaab's private secretary and @SMcDonaldFCO private secretary amongst others were notified of the problem in a memo on 30 August. Do the spinners really expect us to believe that Raab and Johnson were not informed there and then?
1/ When #HarryDunn was killed by CIA officer #annesacoolas on 27.8.19, officials in FCO were convinced that she did not have diplomatic immunity. They should have made @NorthantsPolice aware. It was for them to establish if her claim to immunity was valid. Instead @BorisJohnson
2/ and his team kept the Police in the dark and decided to allow Mrs Sacoolas to leave the UK. Instead of doing the right thing for Harry's family, scandalously they put their size 12 boots on and stomped on their rights from a dirty great height, hoping that no one would notice
3/ They assumed that their cover up would work. What in fact happened is that friends in the community, recognising how wrong all that was, exposed the plot with the help of @LisaSkyNews and @SkyNews. Terrified, Boris and his team, again, made the wrong choice and instead of
1/ Viewers of @GMB will remember that @BorisJohnson has consistently refused to appear on the show for fear of having to face totally appropriate questioning by @piersmorgan and @susannareid100 who's job it is to hold politicians to account on our behalf. To that end on 11.12.19
2/ reporter @SwainITV went to interview Boris who had previously promised he would appear on the show, when this happened 👇@piersmorgan @susannareid100
theguardian.com/politics/2019/…
theguardian.com/politics/2019/…
3/ Allow me to introduce you to Boris' minder that day, Mr Rob Oxley, who took a serious dislike to Jonathan Swain and who's behaviour that morning frankly was rather unbecoming, certainly for a PM's Press Secretary, which position he held at the time. Not British at all!
1/ @NorthantsPolice have this pm issued the attached statement, which has succeeded in only causing enormous distress to #HarryDunn's parents for which the authorities should be thoroughly ashamed.
Following the unprecedented news on Monday that an Interpol Red Notice had been
Following the unprecedented news on Monday that an Interpol Red Notice had been
2/ circulated in respect of CIA Officer #annesacoolas, as we understand it someone at the US State Dept gave a kicking to someone at the British Foreign Office who in turn gave a kicking to @NorthantsPolice. The best that @NorthantsPolice could come up with today was...
3/ a non-denial denial which says that they did not tell us that a Red Notice had been issued. That is correct. What they told me exactly was: “The Suspect has been circulated as Wanted Internationally, should she leave the USA the wanted circulations should be enacted.“
1/ Yesterday, @StateDept, in response to the circulation of the Interpol Red Notice, stated that @SecPompeo's refusal to extradite Anne Sacoolas was final. That is simply incorrect. What the statement omitted to say is that it may be final for now, but that is far from being an..
2/ end to the matter. Not even close. One day, a right minded and reasonable President will return to the Oval Office. The extradition request will still be present that day open for consideration. Were it final, the UK Govt not continue to raise #HarryDunn at every oppty as...
3/ they are. Moreover, see attached letter from the US Embassy in London to our MP Andrea Leadsom, declining to meet with us to discuss road safety. The reason they give is because of the legal dispute between the parents and the US Govt. Note however the key line...
A mahoosive 36 hours for the #Justice4harry campaign. Reminder: British authorities conclude #AnneSacoolas did not have diplomatic immunity and circulate a Red Notice. She is a fugitive on the run and would be arrested and extradited to the UK should she set foot outside the USA
2/ Should @realDonaldTrump refuse to extradite her now he will be forever known as a harbourer of fugitives. State Dept say Pompeo's rejection of the extradition request in January was final. As we all know, that is a lie. USA have already recognised that this will be decided..
3/ in the Court in London. @lisanandy calls on @DominicRaab to answer questions in the HoC urgently. There have been serious failings in the FCO, breach of legal protocol and what is going to be done to bring Mrs Sacoolas back? Team Harry focusing in on misconduct in public..
The Foreign Sec is subject to a statutory duty of candour in the Judicial Review.
"A public authority’s objective must not be to win the litigation at all costs but to assist the court in reaching the correct result and thereby to improve standards in public administration"
"A public authority’s objective must not be to win the litigation at all costs but to assist the court in reaching the correct result and thereby to improve standards in public administration"
The idea is to maintain the highest standards in public administration and if @DominicRaab had nothing to hide he would have engaged with us last November and given full disclosure as to how and why his dept let #annesacoolas go when it was not their decision to make, keeping
the police in the dark. Truth is he and the US Govt have everything to hide as they know she did not have immunity and that the FCO interfered in a police investigation. It is like extracting hens teeth getting him to comply with his duty of candour and he is in big trouble.
1/ Back in the early days just after #harrydunn died, the FCO unlawfully decided on its own that #annesacoolas had diplomatic immunity, let her go and tried to hush that up, thereby interfering in a police investigation. They kept the police in the dark for 14 days and only...
2/ told them she had gone the day after she left. 3 months later following an exhausting campaign, @cpsuk and their lawyers decided, having had all the evidence before them of the flimsy and illogical claim for immunity that she did not have it and charged her. That is what...
3/ would’ve happened in September had the FCO come clean at the time let the police do their work. So, under massive pressure from the USA, FCO caved in in days. CPS got it right but we’re deprived of the ability to do so when Mrs Sacoolas was still in the country and cooperating
