ibori's mp, tony baldry letter aimed at interfering with his money laundering trial

7/31/2019 Ibori's MP, Tony Baldry Letter Aimed At Interfering With His Money Laundering Trial

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Information Rights Team

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Old Admiralty Building

London SW1A 2PA

Richard Wilson, Esq.,

Flat 3

41 Palace Square

London

SE1 2LT

By e-mail: [email protected]

31 July 2012

Dear Mr Wilson

INTERNAL REVIEW OF FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 - REQUEST

REF: 0285-10

I am writing to you about your FOI request of 23 March 2010 for disclosure of a letter written

in September 2009 from Tony Baldry of 1 Essex Court Chambers, which copied in the

former Foreign Secretary. Although you did not directly request an internal review of the

FOI decision, conveyed to you in an email of 17 June 2010, not to disclose relevantinformation under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act), the Foreign and

Commonwealth Office on subsequently reviewing your e-mail reply (also of 17 June 2010)

this year decided that an internal review should take place, given that you said in your e-mail

that this decision should be revisited. I apologise that this review was not conducted when

you originally replied in 2010.

I am writing to confirm that I have conducted a full examination of all the material, both

released and exempted, of relevance to your request. I have concluded the following:

Search for information

The request was for a single document, which was found (the letter was in fact to the formerForeign Secretary, rather than copied to him). I am therefore content that a reasonable search

was carried out in relation to your request.

Use of exemptionsSeveral exemptions were given at the time of your original enquiry, when the Foreign and

Commonwealth refused the disclosure the letter:

- Section 27(1)(a) on the grounds that the letters release would be prejudicial torelations between the UK and any other state

- Section 31(1)(c) on the grounds that the letters release would, or would like to,prejudice the administration of justice

- Section 40(2) on the grounds it included personal data


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- Section 41(1) on the grounds that its release would constitute an actionable breach ofconfidence.

The review has been complicated by the fact that, since your original enquiry, James Ibori

has been tried and convicted in the UK. However, I have reviewed whether these exemptions

are correct as of this date as well as investigating whether the exemption applied in June2010. I am not content that exemptions 40(2) and 41(1) were correctly applied in June 2010

nor are they valid today. Section 31(1)(c) may have been correctly applied but it is no

longer relevant today. I have also concluded that, whilst a partial redaction of the letter is

valid under Section 27(1)(a) both today and in June 2010, the full redaction in June 2010 was

not.

Exemptions under Section 27must be considered for where the balance of the public interest

in disclosure lies. I acknowledge the public interest in this issue and that disclosure of the

letter would enhance public understanding of the UKs relationship with Nigeria. However,

after careful consideration, I have concluded that the disclosure of certain parts of the letter

could compromise the UKs interests abroad by damaging the trust upheld in our bilateralrelationship with Nigeria. The withheld information includes sensitive opinions expressed by

a senior Nigerian political figure. Trust is essential in our bilateral relationship as it allows for

the free and frank exchange of information on the understanding that it will be treated in

confidence. If the United Kingdom does not maintain this trust and confidence, its ability to

protect and promote UK interests in Nigeria will be hampered. For this reason, I judge the

public interest in withholding this information is greater than the public interest in disclosing.

Your specific queriesTherefore after careful consideration of the original handling of the request and on the basis

of the findings above, the internal review has partially overturned the original decision. I

enclose a redacted version of the letter that you requested.

I hope you are satisfied with the process of this review and the outcome. However, if you

feel we have not handled your internal review correctly and you wish to make a complaint,

you may then apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The Information

Commissioner can be contacted at:

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water LaneWilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

We continually strive to improve our service, so we would welcome your feedback and

comments. If you would like to provide feedback on our service, please email our

Information Rights Team, again at:[email protected]

You can also find out more about the FCO and freedom of information issues at our Access

to Information website:http://foi.fco.gov.uk/en.In keeping with the spirit and effect of the

Freedom of Information Act, all information is assumed to be releasable to the public unlessit is exempt. The information we have supplied to you may now be published on our website

together with any related information that will provide a key to its wider context.
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://foi.fco.gov.uk/enhttp://foi.fco.gov.uk/enhttp://foi.fco.gov.uk/enhttp://foi.fco.gov.uk/enmailto:[email protected]


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Yours sincerely,

Jonathan Drew

Jonathan Drew

Deputy Head

Africa Department- East and West

We keep and use information in line with the Data Protection Act 1998. We may release this personal information to other UK

government departments and public authorities.


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ibori's mp, tony baldry letter aimed at interfering with his money laundering trial

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