Case Studies
War Crimes
R –v- Z [2005]
The defendant was the first ever non-British national to be tried in Britain for offences committed outside the UK. This case was also considered so serious by the government that they instructed their senior law officer, the Attorney General, to prosecute this matter.
The client was charged with Torture contrary to Section 134(1) of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 and Hostage Taking contrary to Section 1(1) of the Taking of Hostages Act 1982. These offences were alleged to have taken place during the period of civil unrest in Afghanistan between 1991 and 1994.
The majority of the prosecution evidence in this case was provided by witnesses over a live video link set up especially for this purpose at the British Embassy in Kabul. During preparation for the client’s defence, various members of his legal team travelled to Peshawar and Islamabad in Pakistan and on more than one occasion to Kabul variously to obtain witness statements on his behalf, to be present during police identification parades with witnesses in Kabul and to speak to experts on Afghanistan’s political history.
Once again, our defence team overcame language and culture barriers to develop an excellent long-lasting relationship with our client and we went to great lengths to defend him against the charges he faced.
