By Andrew Hough
Published: 7:00AM GMT 26 Oct 2009
Stuart Syvret claims he would not get a fair trial on Jersey because the judiciary are "too politicised". Photo: EDDIE MULHOLLANDJust days before he was due in court last week charged with breaching data protection laws, the former health and social services minister on the channel island, instead fled to London seeking asylum.
His failure to attend court has led to a warrant for his arrest being issued.
The senator, previously a “whistleblower” who had claimed island officials covered up child abuse at Jersey’s Haut de la Garenne children’s home, claimed he would not get a fair trial on the island because the judiciary were “too politicised”.
The politician, Jersey’s longest serving senator, will on Monday give himself up to police at parliament, to launch a rare process of claiming the right to a fair trial on the mainland.
As a Channel Island citizen, the senator has automatic right to live in Britain but Mr Syvret will ask the government for “protection from harassment” from the Jersey authorities.
In March, Mr Syvret published details on his blog of a police investigation into a registered nurse, which he said claimed showed the person was a public danger.
He was later arrested and later charged with breaching the Data Protection Act.
Last week, magistrates ordered Mr Syvret’s arrest, after he failed to show at court for a directions hearing which he said he was not obliged to attend.
He said he fled Jersey after prosecutors said he would probably be barred from mounting a public-interest defence in court.
“I am doing this because the criminal justice system in Jersey is utterly dysfunctional,” the senator said.
“It is at best imperfect and at worst, frankly corrupt and a deeply politicised system.”
Mr Syvret, 44, said his case was one of several on the island where people would unlikely receive a fair trial and “not get justice”.
They are calling on Justice Secretary Jack Straw to intervene in the case, amid claims the “prosecution system in Jersey has collapsed”.
They say the British Government should intervene because Jersey is a Crown dependency and Britain has a responsibility for its “good governance”.
Asked if he thought, he would get a fair trial, Mr Syvret, replied: “No way, not a prayer.
“The courts will still find me guilty, no matter what, because they are so politicised.”
He is currently staying with Liberal Democrat MP John Hemming, who is supporting Mr Syvret’s application for protection from the Jersey judiciary along with Labour MP Austin Mitchell and Lib Dem peer Lord Wallace of Saltaire.
Mr Hemming, the MP for Birmingham Yardley, said he fully supported the Jersey senator’s actions because he was a “brave and principled politician”.
“There is a serious problem with the executive of the Jersey government, using its influence on the judicial and prosecution process for its own purpose,” he said.
“It is a serious situation. The government should not be using their prosecution powers to silence opposition politicians.”
A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Justice declined to comment "while legal proceedings are ongoing".
She added: “The Ministry of Justice takes its constitutional responsibilities for the Crown Dependencies seriously and keeps up to date with issues on each island as they develop."
The Jersey Government also did not respond to repeated requests for a reaction while a spokesman for Jersey police was not available to comment.
Mr Syvret is due back in court next month.
“Unless I get arrested and taken back there I won’t be there,” Mr Syvret said.
Jersey politician charged with leaking police report ‘to seek legal asylum’