'Secret' decisions worry lawyer

C was released on Monday night from Woodhill Prison

A senior lawyer who resigned over the terror laws says he remains concerned at the "secretive judgements" made to release terror detainees.

Ian Macdonald QC, who resigned from representing detainees in late 2004, said the lack of information and speed of decisions was worrying.

He was speaking after one suspect was released from prison.

The man, referred to as C, was freed unconditionally after being held for three years without charge.

Sudden freedom

C, an Egyptian citizen, has not been told why he was released. He was freed from Woodhill prison near Milton Keynes on Monday night.

"It's precisely when you have this kind of turnaround, very sudden and precisely at the time when there are review proceedings before Siac (Special Immigration Appeal Commission) that one gets very, very concerned about the kind of judgements that are being made secretly and in private about these matters," said Mr Macdonald.

Although a number of C's associates remain at liberty many have now been detained and/or their extremist activities have been disrupted. Documents relating to C's release

He resigned in December in protest at what he described as the "odious" laws that allowed people to be detained indefinitely without charge or trial.

Despite the House of Lords saying the detention broke human rights laws, the detainees remained in prison.

"They must know that all these people have been held unlawfully now.

"The shield of the derogation has been quashed by the House of Lords and yet one minute people are dangerous and the next week they are not dangerous," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme

Documents seen by Today said: "Although a number of C's associates remain at liberty many have now been detained and/or their extremist activities have been disrupted.

"This has lessened the potential for him to re-engage in his previous activities to the extent that the risk he posed if not detained is not sufficient to justify maintaining the detention certificate."

It's not a case that the Home Secretary locks someone up and throws away the key Hazel Blears Home Office minister

However, Mr Macdonald, who had been privy to confidential documents during his time as a Special Advocate representing detainees, said: "Their associates haven't - so far as any information has come out - been arrested.

"But this is one of the problems: it's very difficult for anyone to make any kind of judgement about this because we're not allowed to know."

Home Office minister Hazel Blears said the release of C showed that cases were under constant review.

"It's not a case that the Home Secretary locks someone up and throws away the key."

She explained that C "no longer meets the very high criteria (for detention)" and added that it "was not the case at all" that C was considered dangerous one day and not dangerous the next.

'Still a threat'

"He no longer meets the criteria for detention but that doesn't mean that he poses no threat at all," she told Newsnight.

"He no longer poses the threat that he did when the decision was made to issue the certificate three years ago.

"We will make sure that the public in this country are properly protected and will take whatever steps are necessary to do that and that could include surveillance, but I'm not going to say that in this particular case," she added.