Liberty to intervene in NatWest Three case

HUMAN rights organisation Liberty is to intervene in the case of the NatWest Three, a trio of former bankers facing extradition to the US on multi-million pound fraud charges relating to collapsed energy giant Enron.

David Bermingham, Gary Mulgrew and Giles Darby deny all charges. They are appealing against a decision by Home Secretary Charles Clarke this week to uphold a High Court ruling in October that they could be shipped to the US under controversial new legislation intended for terrorists.

It scraps the need for the US to present prima facie evidence against the accused.

Caoilfhionn Gallagher, one of the Liberty lawyers acting on the case, said: 'This is a human rights issue. It is an example of how three men are going to be taken away from their families and brought to the US with no consideration of whether the Americans have the right to do this.'

Royal Bank of Scotland, which now owns NatWest, said it was not aware of all the facts and evidence and reserved the right to take legal action.

Bermingham said he was resisting extradition 'because I would have to spend two years in a federal penitentiary and would have to spend around $2m to prove my innocence. Why the hell should I have to do that?'

News of Liberty's intervention came as the US was criticised by Amnesty International for its treatment of prisoners.