Shayler 'will win in Europe' Nov 25 2002
Angus Hoy, Evening Gazette
Jailed former MI5 agent David Shayler will have his conviction overturned
by European law chiefs, according to his girlfriend Annie Machon.
But she believes the fight to clear his name could take as long as five years.
Ms Machon was speaking during a visit to Teesside with Shayler's brothers
Phil and Jeremy for Saturday's Boro clash with Manchester City.
Boro-born Shayler was jailed earlier this month at the Old Bailey in London
for breaches of the Official Secrets Act.
The 36-year-old was convicted by a jury of passing information to a
national newspaper.
He was jailed for six months - but could be tagged and released before
Christmas, after the trial judge agreed to take into account the three
months he spent behind bars in Paris during a failed attempt by the British
authorities to have him extradited in 1998.
After three years in exile, he returned to face his accusers in August, 2000.
The former MI5 agent has always claimed he was acting in the public
interest and wanted to expose incompetence and criminality on the part of
the security services.
Ms Machon, 34, said Shayler - whose prison number in London's high security
Belmarsh jail is bizarrely HP6 007 - was regularly spending 24 hours locked
up in a one-man cell with two other prisoners due to overcrowding and
understaffing.
"All the other prisoners and guards have been very friendly and
supportive," she said.
"They have seen through a lot of the rubbish in the newspapers and one of
the guards is even a bit of a Boro fan, which helps."
Ms Machon said they planned to lead a "very quiet life" while Shayler
completed his sentence, but that a book was on the cards.
"I want to set out what really happened and I think it will be a rollicking
good read," she said.
Shayler had been the victim of a media "stitch-up" in the aftermath of his
trial, she said.
"It was made to look as if David had put lives at risk for money," she
said. "�40,000 does sound a lot, but for two people to live on for a long
period of time, it's not that much.
"If he had wanted money, he was offered �10m by the Libyans, but he didn't
do that.
"Even the judge accepted in court there was no financial motive.
"The prosecution made out that the documents were chock-a-block with
agents' names, but David didn't have access to agents' names and nobody's
life was put at risk.
"But the way things were manipulated was frightening to watch. The jury was
out for three-and-a-half hours and when they returned their verdict, some
of the women jurors were in tears.
"They knew they hadn't heard the full story and something funny was going on.
"It was a very well thought out and clever plan by the prosecution - they
didn't just want to punish and imprison him, they wanted to ruin his
reputation as well."
Ms Machon said she was sure Shayler would not be the last whistleblower to
attempt to expose bungling by the secret services.
"Dave's treatment was designed to stop other whistleblowers, but if MI5
doesn't get its act together, another will come along in a few years'
time," she said.
"In the meantime we will seek leave to appeal, although I don't think we
will get any justice in this country because there are too many vested
interests.
"But when we finally get to Europe, the law is so clear that we know we
will win."
* What do you think? Write to Letters to the Editor, Evening Gazette,
Borough Road, Middlesbrough, TS1 3AZ, fax 01642 232014 or e-mail
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
