Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patrick Grady on 2016-03-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has made to the Thai government on the (a) charges facing and (b) return of the British passport belonging to Andy Hall.

Mr Hugo Swire

We have taken a number of actions to support Mr Hall. Most recently, the Permanent Under-Secretary of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Sir Simon McDonald, raised his case with the Thai Vice Foreign Minister during his visit to Bangkok on 3 February. He emphasised the importance of proceedings against Mr Hall being conducted in a fair, open and transparent manner.

We have requested the return of Mr Hall’s passport from the Thai courts. However, we have no jurisdiction to interfere in other countries’ judicial processes, which include a court’s ability to set its own bail conditions. We stand ready to provide further consular assistance should Mr Hall require it.