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[TonyGosling]

Al Fayed attacks Diana jury ruling
http://icberkshire.icnetwork.co.uk/chronicle/uk/tm_headline=al-fayed-attacks-diana-jury-ruling&method=full&objectid=18478261&siteid=106484-name_page.html
Jan 15 2007

Mohamed al Fayed has branded the decision not to appoint a jury for the Diana, Princess of Wales inquest "shocking but predictable".

Britain's top female judge Baroness Butler-Sloss is to sit alone on the high profile case.

Lawyers for Harrods boss Mr al Fayed, whose son Dodi was killed in the 1997 Paris car crash, argued in favour of a jury of ordinary men and women during legal discussions at the High Court last week.

But Lady Butler-Sloss said in her ruling that only a coroner could give the "careful and fully reasoned decision" Diana and Dodi's inquests needed.

Mr al Fayed said he had instructed his lawyers to take all possible steps on the matter. They are currently reviewing her 34-page decision.

"For the past ten years I have fought to expose the truth about these murders; I do not intend to give up now," Mr Al Fayed said.

"The public, and in particular, a jury of ordinary people must hear all the evidence, in front of an independent and fair minded coroner. I have instructed my lawyers to take all possible steps towards achieving this. If that means that the deputy coroner for the Royal household can no longer hear the two inquests, so be it."

Lady Butler-Sloss, who wants the full inquests to start in May, has appealed for any attempts to challenge her decision to be made promptly. The inquests are to be held jointly at a single hearing, most likely at the Royal Courts of Justice.

In order to do this, Lady Butler-Sloss is to transfer Dodi's inquest, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Surrey coroner, to the jurisdiction of the Queen's household, which Diana's inquests falls under.

Lady Butler-Sloss was appointed deputy coroner of the Queen's household and assistant deputy coroner for Surrey for the inquests, which were opened in separate locations in 2004. A 3D model of the Pont de l'Alma tunnel crash site, created for the Metropolitan Police investigation, will be shown at the next preliminary hearing in March. The scope of the inquests and the witnesses will also be decided then.

[TonyGosling]

Diana: Al Fayed will not give up on truth
16/01/07
By Richard Palmer
Royal Correspondent
http://express.lineone.net/news_detail.html?sku=1059

THE inquest into Princess Diana?s death faced a legal challenge last night after Mohamed Al Fayed vowed to overturn a decision to hold the hearing without a jury.

He wants a judicial review of the coroner?s decision that the issues are too complicated for a jury made up of ordinary members of the public.

Mr Al Fayed, whose son Dodi died with Diana in a Paris car crash in August 1997, described the decision by Baroness Butler-Sloss as ?shocking but predictable? and part of an Establishment plot to cover up their murder.

In a 34-page ruling yesterday Lady Butler-Sloss, who was appointed deputy royal coroner specifically to oversee the hearings, said only a coroner could give the ?careful and fully reasoned decision? Diana?s and Dodi?s inquests needed.

?I do not propose to summons a jury and I shall sit alone to hear the two inquests,? she said.

But Mr Al Fayed said he had instructed his lawyers to take all possible steps to ensure that a jury should hear the twin inquests and, if necessary, have Lady Butler-Sloss removed from the case.

?For the past 10 years I have fought to expose the truth about these murders. I do not intend to give up now,? he said.

?The public, and in particular, a jury of ordinary people must hear all the evidence, in front of an independent and fair-minded coroner.

?I have instructed my lawyers to take all possible steps towards achieving this. If that means that the deputy coroner for the royal household can no longer hear the two inquests, so be it.?

His legal team has been instructed to get the decision overturned before a second preliminary hearing in the case, due in March, can take place.

At that hearing the coroner was due to view a 3D model of the Pont de l?Alma tunnel crash site, created for the Metropolitan Police investigation.

Groundbreaking technology was used to put together the model.

Any court action threatens to delay the inquest. But Lady Butler-Sloss, who wants the full inquests to start in May, has appealed for any attempts to challenge her decision to be made quickly.

To save time and money, she has decided to hold the inquests jointly, most likely at the Royal Courts of Justice in London.

And to do that she has transferred Dodi?s inquest from the jurisdiction of the Surrey coroner to the royal household.

But Mr Al Fayed, who believes Diana was murdered by British agents on the orders of Prince Philip because she planned to marry Dodi, a Muslim, described that decision as bizarre.

?Lady Butler-Sloss?s most recent decision clearly continues the Establishment policy of cover-up,? he said.

?It is extraordinary and bizarre that, in order to achieve this, the deputy coroner will deal with my son?s inquest as if he had been a member of the royal household.

?Even Princess Diana had been thrown out of the royal household before her death. Now they treat them both as if they were part of the royal household, just to stop the truth emerging.?

He added: ?I am sure her next step will be to prevent most of the relevant evidence even being heard at the inquests.?

Lady Butler-Sloss ruled that technical restrictions on what a jury could say and do meant it would be an almost impossible task for ordinary members of the public to satisfy the huge public interest in the outcome of the inquests.

But even the Queen?s lawyers had called for a jury of the public to hear the case, arguing that any attempt by the coroner to sit on her own would only add to claims of an Establishment cover-up.

Prince William and Harry refused to give their opinion on the issue but asked that the inquest be ?open, fair and transparent?.

A Scotland Yard report last month dismissed conspiracy theories about the deaths.

Former Metropolitan Police Commissioner Lord Stevens concluded that the crash was nothing more than a tragic accident caused by the couple?s chauffeur Henri Paul driving too fast while drunk. Mr Al Fayed dismissed the findings as a whitewash.

However, Lady Butler-Sloss admitted last week that there were elements of the police investigation which could be questioned in court. ?There is much in what Lord Stevens?s report says which is capable of challenge,? she said.

At least 40 witnesses will give evidence at the full inquest, many by video-link from Paris.

Inquests must be held into deaths abroad that are not thought to be due to natural causes. They must establish the identity of the deceased the details of how, when and where they were killed.

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http://express.lineone.net/news_detail.html?sku=1059