Cover-Up Claims As David Kelly Post Mortem Set To Stay Under Wraps For 70 Years

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Cover-up claims as David Kelly post mortem set to stay under wraps for 70 years

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1245705/Cover-claims-David-Kelly-post-mortem-set-stay-wraps-70-years.html

By Daniel Martin
Last updated at 11:02 PM on 24th January 2010

Medical records which would shed light on the death of government scientist David Kelly will be kept secret for 70 years, it emerged yesterday.

The unprecedented move has been ordered by Lord Hutton, who chaired the inquiry which controversially concluded that the mysterious death was suicide.

It means vital evidence, including the results of Dr Kelly's post-mortem examination - which have never been made public - will remain under wraps until 2073, by which time anyone involved in the case will almost certainly be dead.

The body of 59-year- old UN weapons inspector Dr Kelly was found in July 2003 in woods near his Oxfordshire home. Days earlier he had been revealed as the source of a BBC story claiming evidence against Iraq had been 'sexed up' to justify invasion.

No coroner's inquest has been held into the death.

Last night, Dr Michael Powers QC, a doctor campaigning to overturn Lord Hutton's findings, told the Daily Mail: 'I cannot understand why this extraordinary move has been taken.

'It does give rise, perhaps unnecessarily, to a suspicion that information relevant to these circumstances was kept out of the public eye.

'The surprising thing to me is that if this report supports the conclusion that the medical cause of death was suicide, why does it need to be locked up for 70 years?

'If on the other hand it doesn't, and supports other means of death, then why wasn't this evidence investigated by the Hutton inquiry?

The move will stoke fresh speculation about the true circumstances of Dr Kelly's death
'It is very difficult to understand what is so precious and important about the medical reports and tests which stops any of us having sight of this until everyone with any knowledge or interest in the case is dead.'

Liberal Democrat MP Norman Baker, who has also cast doubt on the official version of events, said: 'It is astonishing this is the first we've known about this decision by Lord Hutton and even more astonishing he should have seen fit to hide this material away.'

Lord Hutton's restrictions - which were imposed immediately after his inquiry in 2004 - came to light in a letter from Oxfordshire County Council to a group of 13 doctors, led by Dr Powers, challenging the Hutton verdict.

It revealed that an order had been imposed which placed a 30-year ban the release of records that were provided to the inquiry but not used in evidence - believed to be witness statements.

In addition, the letter said that medical reports and photographs of Dr Kelly's body would remain classified information for 70 years after his death.

Nicholas Gardiner, chief coroner for Oxfordshire, said the restriction may have been used to protect Dr Kelly's children.

Dr David Halpin, another of the group of 13 doctors, said last night: 'I am shocked but not surprised by this.

'It fits in with the subversion of due process we have seen for six years. It is extraordinary.'

Both Dr Halpin and Dr Powers said they would like to see the Chilcot panel ask why the ban was imposed.

Dr Powers said: 'We would like to know the part government ministers played in the decision.'

The Ministry of Justice has not explained the legal basis for Lord Hutton's order.

A spokesman said: 'Any decision made by Lord Hutton was entirely a matter for him.'

Lord Hutton was unavailable for comment.

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Details of Iraq whistleblower’s alleged suicide to be sealed 70 years

http://rawstory.com/2010/01/details-iraq-whistleblowers-alleged-suicide-sealed-70-years/

By Stephen C. Webster
Sunday, January 24th, 2010 -- 6:19 pm

By 2080, anyone with a direct interest in learning how Dr. David Kelly died, will themselves be dead.

That's how an Oxford coroner reacted to a recent ruling ordering the details of the former United Nations weapons inspector's death locked away for 70 years, according to a Mail Online report.

Kelly's story, however, was gravely important in 2003, just before he was found dead in the woods behind his home in Oxfordshire, U.K. As the BBC revealed in the wake of his passing, he had been the key source behind a story claiming intelligence on Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction was "sexed up."

Hours before his death, he reportedly e-mailed New York Times reporter Judith Miller, warning her of "many dark actors playing games," according to the BBC.

Lord Hutton, the British judge who led the state's investigation into Kelly's death, also ordered his written records pertaining to the case sealed for 30 years, according to UK's Morning Star Online.

The report added that Hutton's inquiry "concluded that Dr Kelly had killed himself by cutting an artery in his wrist. But the finding has been challenged by doctors who claim that the weapons inspector's stated injuries were not serious enough to have killed him."

A paramedic who responded to the scene was quoted by The Guardian, saying: "There just wasn't a lot of blood... When somebody cuts an artery, whether accidentally or intentionally, the blood pumps everywhere. I just think it is incredibly unlikely that he died from the wrist wound we saw."

The claims eventually led a group of six doctors to bring formal demands for an investigation into Kelly's death. An initial inquiry was headed up by the British Ministry of Defense.

"[Just] how far were the Blair/Bush administrations willing to go in order to fabricate a reason for the Iraq war?" asked RAW STORY's Investigative News Editor Larisa Alexandrovna in a post to her blog, At Largely. "The Bush administration was at the very least willing to out a covert CIA officer, committing treason in the process. What was Tony Blair willing to do?"

Sadly, with the court's inquiry ended, the questions seem doomed to persist.

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Doctors may see Kelly post-mortem report, says Hutton

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8481791.stm

1/27/2010

Details of the post-mortem examination of government weapons inspector David Kelly should be seen by doctors seeking an inquest, Lord Hutton has said.

The peer confirmed he had requested a 70-year gagging order on the material at the conclusion of his inquiry into Dr Kelly's 2003 death.

But he said on Tuesday the purpose of the secrecy order had been to avoid causing distress to Dr Kelly's family.

He has written to ministers saying the report may be seen by the doctors.

Dr Kelly's body was found in woods close to his Oxfordshire home in 2003, shortly after it was revealed that he was the source of a BBC report casting doubt on the government's claim that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction capable of being fired within 45 minutes.

Challenge
An inquest was suspended by then Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer, who ruled that Lord Hutton's inquiry could take its place.

Lord Hutton's report in 2004 concluded that Dr Kelly had killed himself by cutting an artery in his wrist.

But the finding has been challenged by doctors who claim that the weapons inspector's stated injuries were not serious enough.

One of them, former assistant coroner Michael Powers, raised concerns over the secrecy order after seeing a letter from the legal team of Oxfordshire County Council explaining the unusual restrictions placed by Lord Hutton on material relating to his inquiry.

The letter stated: "Lord Hutton made a request for the records provided to the inquiry, not produced in evidence, to be closed for 30 years, and that medical (including post-mortem) reports and photographs be closed for 70 years."

On Tuesday, Lord Hutton released a statement explaining his decision and revealing that he had written to the Ministry of Justice.

In it, he said: "At the conclusion of my inquiry into the death of Dr David Kelly, I requested that the post-mortem report relating to his death should not be disclosed for 70 years as I was concerned that the publication of that report in newspapers, books and magazines would cause his daughters and his wife further and unnecessary distress.

"Much of the material in the post-mortem report had been given in oral evidence in public at the inquiry and substantial parts of that evidence had been set out in my report.

"However, I consider that the disclosure of the report to doctors and their legal advisers for the purposes of legal proceedings would not undermine the protection which I wished to give to Dr Kelly's family, provided that conditions were imposed restricting the use and publication of the report to such proceedings, and I have written to the Ministry of Justice to this effect."

Liberal Democrat MP Norman Baker, who has conducted his own inquiries into Dr Kelly's death, said: "It's astonishing and unheard-of for material of this nature to be hidden away for any length of time, let alone 70 years.

"Coroners' inquests are held in public. Lord Hutton's inquiry was unique in its format and unique in requesting restrictions of this nature.

"His statement today undermines the validity of his own inquiry and gives further justification to the case being made by many for a proper inquest to be held into this most public of deaths."