Patrick Haseldine
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Patrick Haseldine (born July 11, 1942) is a former British FCO official who was dismissed in August 1989 by the then foreign secretary, John Major, for "various disciplinary offences constituting breaches of the Diplomatic Service Regulations".[1] He had written a letter to the Guardian newspaper in which he publically accused then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher of "self-righteous invective" over her handling of an extradition request.[1] He has subsequently attempted to compile a dossier implicating South Africa in the Lockerbie bombing.
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[edit] Early life
Born in Leytonstone, Haseldine attended St Ignatius' College, a grammar school in north London.[citation needed] He was then employed for five years in banking and commerce,[citation needed] also in London and three years as a production controller in a furniture manufacturing firm in Essex[citation needed] and at the Ford Motor Company in Dagenham.[citation needed]
[edit] Career
In 1966, he began working at the office of the Australian Air Attaché in Paris for three years.[citation needed] He joined the HM Diplomatic Service of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1971.[1]
[edit] Embargo monitoring
He was appointed in July 1983 to be an assistant on the South Africa desk in the FCO's Southern African Department (SAfD) in London where his responsibilities included monitoring the voluntary cultural and sports boycott of South Africa, and enforcing the mandatory UN arms embargo against South Africa.[1] However he was seconded to another department after his superiors deemed him unsuitable to work in a political department.[1] In January 1986, he was unsuccessful in appealing against this unfavourable performance review, which he alleged was politically motivated.[1]
[edit] Question Time
In February 1988 Haseldine was a member of the invited studio audience of Question Time.[1] Fifteen minutes into the program, a student asked whether the British government was justified in its opposition of economic sanctions against South Africa in the face of calls for sanctions by Nelson Mandela, Bishop Tutu and by most of the European Community. Sir Robin asked the audience to raise their hands if they were in favour of economic sanctions against South Africa. Haseldine was the first member of the audience to vote on a question of sanctions.[1].
[edit] Suspension
In March 1988, after repeatedly circulating material within the civil service without authorisation, Haseldine was suspended from his job in the Defence Department for six months.[1] He joined the FCO Information Department on September 3, 1988.[1]
[edit] Guardian letter
On 5 December 1988, Haseldine wrote a letter to the Guardian, from his work address (Information Department, Foreign and Commonwealth Office) that was published on December 7, 1998.[1]
In the letter, he criticised then Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher of using "self-righteous invective" over an extradiction request for an Irish citizen to face terrorism charges in the UK.[1]. He contrasted the case to that of the Coventry Four, four South African businessmen charged in 1984 with evading the United Nations Security Council Resolution 418 ban on military exports, who were subsequently released by the Thatcher government.[2] Haseldine labelled the four South Africans "terrorists", a term deriving from Michael Dukakis and some anti-apartheid activists calling apartheid South Africa a "terrorist state" in order to trigger automatic sanctions.[3][4]
He was immediately suspended from work on full pay.[1] In a House of Commons written question on December 13, 1988 Tam Dalyell asked the Prime Minister "when she expects to receive the report from Sir Robin Butler on the case of Mr P J Haseldine and his letter to The Guardian; and if she will make a statement?" The Prime Minister replied "I do not expect to receive such a report. This case is being considered in accordance with procedures laid down in diplomatic service regulations."[5] On 21 March 1989, following a disciplinary proceeding, he was called to resign or be dismissed.[1]
Haseldine submitted an application to the European Court of Human Rights in 1991, claiming his dismissal for writing the letter to Guardian contravened his right to freedom of expression. However the ECHR declared his application inadmissible the following year.[1]
[edit] Political activity
Seeking a political home for his anti-apartheid views, Haseldine joined the Labour Party in 1990.[citation needed] He stood as a Labour candidate for the Ongar Division in the May 6, 1993 Essex County Council elections in which he came third.[citation needed]
[edit] Attempts to incriminate South Africa
Haseldine next devoted time attempting to assemble a dossier of evidence to incriminate South Africa for the Lockerbie bombing,[citation needed] rather than the two Libyans (Megrahi and Fhimah) who had been indicted in 1991. He had already noted from the 1994 documentary film The Maltese Double Cross – Lockerbie that foreign minister Pik Botha as well as a South African delegation had been booked on PA 103 to fly to New York to sign the New York Accords, but had cancelled at the last minute after they were able to connect with an earlier flight. This "evidence" underpins his conspiracy theory that South Africa was responsible for the Lockerbie bombing in which Namibian commissioner Bernt Carlsson died.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Patrick Haseldine vs United Kingdom, [1] (European Court of Human Rights May 13, 1992).
- ^ James Rusbridger (1991). The Intelligence Game. Bodley Head, page 141. ISBN 0-370-31242-2.
- ^ "The double standards on terrorism", Guardian, 7-12-1998.
- ^ "Dukakis Backers Agree Platform Will Call South Africa 'Terrorist'", New York Times, June 13, 1988.
- ^ George Foulkes MP. Parliamentary Question.
