Free The NatWest Three
I was going to write a lengthy rant about The NatWest Three being extradited to the US to face trial for their part in the Enron fiasco however its been dealt with most admirably by Jackart over at A Very British Dude and covered some more by Steve at The Sharpener, so you may as well imbibe their ire instead of mine.
I get the impression that most British people have little time for this affair, mostly I think because they have little sympathy for the fall from grace of wealthy men but such distain should be tempered with the realisation that lunatic legislation such as SOX will have unwelcome effects on your beloved pension funds and the overall economy.
Then just when I thought that was that what should happen but a material witness turns up dead in a park and the whole story takes a sinister turn into something resembling a bad thriller…
Hands up
I am one of those people who think that this is a terrible extradition agreement we’ve entered into with the Americans but at the same time am not too concerned over the personal plight of the Natwest 3.
I think that this is largely a reaction to the level of sympathetic coverage they received in the media. Stuff like this in the Telegraph…
http://tinyurl.com/ormhb
Whilst not the responsibility of the Natwest 3 themselves I couldn’t help shaking the feeling that other, less connected, people on the wrong side of unfair legislation aren’t treated so well.
But, yes, the treatment of the Natwest 3 is clearly wrong and as such is a timely pointer to future possible uses and abuses of all sorts of other chunks of ‘anti-terror’ legislation. I just wish people with influence would do something about it now rather than waiting until it effects their own
and, yes, speaking as someone who used to make a living out of related issues, the application of SOX to British Business is an appalling development
- and don’t forget …
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helms-Burton_Act
while you’re there