New UK counter-terrorism bill may facilitate more coverups with "secret" inquests!

[cascadiance]

It doesn't go as far as our asshats in taking away habeus corpus, but it looks like it's starting to go that way. Certainly helps them cover up what happened to British weapons inspector David Kelly after he apparently "committed suicide" after investigating WMD trafficking near Iraq.

From:

http://www.politics.co.uk/news/opinion-former-index/leg...

New controversy over counter-terrorism plans
Tuesday, 12 Aug 2008 12:24



The inquest into Diana's death could have been affected by the plans

A new controversy has erupted over the government's counter-terrorism bill after it was revealed it grants the government powers to hold inquests in secret.

The measure – section 63 of the bill – was passed over without many people noticing it during the stormy row over 42-day detention but is now taking centre stage just as the House of Lords prepares to vote on the proposals in October.

The section allows for the government to keep matters secret if doing so is in "the public interest". This could include barring the public from 'public inquests' such as that into the death of Iraq weapons inspector David Kelly, allowing the home secretary to stop a jury being summoned and replacing a coroner with a government appointee.

But lawyers and civil liberties advocates are furious at the changes, which would eradicate a centuries-old right of the public to observe inquiries into a death.

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