Judges allow partial release of British marine shooting video
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Version 0 of 1. Footage from a head-cam showing some of the build-up to the moment when a British Royal Marine shoots dead a wounded Taliban fighter is to be released following legal action by the Guardian and other media organisations. Three of the UK’s most senior judges have given permission for the footage to be published to help the media report fully on the appeal of former marine Alexander Blackman, who is serving life for the murder of the injured man. Blackman’s case is to be heard by the court martial appeal court next week following an investigation by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) that concluded his murder conviction could be quashed. At the centre of the original court martial in 2013 was footage from another marine’s head-cam showing the incident, which took place in Afghanistan six years ago. Video showing the build-up and the actual shooting has been shown in court on a number of occasions but it has not been released because of fears, expressed in 2013, that it would be used as a propaganda weapon by terrorists. Ahead of next week’s appeal the Guardian, BBC, ITN, Times Newspapers and Sky have argued that in the interests of open justice all the footage should be available. At a hearing that took place last month the Ministry of Defence and Blackman’s legal team objected. On Tuesday, three senior judges ruled that two clips that show the marines dragging the injured man across a field and Blackman shooting him in the chest should not be provided to the media. The legal argument leading up to the decision cannot be reported at the moment. But it can now be reported that after viewing three other clips showing some of the build-up to the shooting the judges ruled these could be released. Previously, only stills, audio and a transcript have been allowed to be published. The first clip that will be released shows a group of marines including Blackman watch as an Apache helicopter opens fire with a cannon on the suspected Taliban fighter. Initially the marines seem jubilant but then express disgust when they realise the man was not killed outright. They ask why the Apache did not use a Hellfire missile and one says: “Error after error after error.” In the second clip one of the men can heard saying: “Shambles.” The third clip shows some of the marines walking out into the field to inspect the injured man. The footage that the judges refused to be allowed to be published includes a passage in which the marines drag the injured man, the moment Blackman shoots him and what he says afterwards: “Shuffle off this mortal coil, you cunt,” then to his fellow marines: “Obviously this doesn’t go anywhere, fellas … I’ve just broken the Geneva convention.” At the start of the original court martial hearing in 2013, government expert Paul Mott said it was the most potent footage of its kind he had viewed. “I’ve seen nothing that surpasses it in terms of radicalisation potential. It’s exceptionally worrying,” said Mott. “There’s nothing I have seen that … matches its emotional power. It is a gift in propaganda terms.” Blackman was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 10 years, which was later reduced to eight years on appeal. He remains in prison and watched Tuesday’s proceedings via a video link. His wife, Claire, was in court. The CCRC has said it had concluded that a number of new issues, including fresh evidence relating to the former marine’s mental state, “raise a real possibility” that the court martial appeal court “will now quash Mr Blackman’s murder conviction”. It is not yet known when the three clips will be released. The judges who made the decision were the lord chief justice, Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, Sir Brian Leveson and Lady Justice Hallett. |