On 11 December 1996 Samar Alami, a Lebanese woman, and Jawad Botmeh, a Palestinian man, were wrongfully convicted for conspiracy to cause explosions in relation to the 1994 London bombings at the Israeli Embassy and Balfour House. Both were sentenced to twenty years in prison, after which they face deportation.

However, friends and family of the two believe that they are the victims of a miscarriage of justice. They allege that that the police failed to follow through leads which would have proved the two innocent. For example:

• A key suspect at the scene has never been found
• Owners of the vehicles used in the bombing have not been traced
• MI5 had reports about the attack before it occurred. This information was not disclosed at the trail

The case certainly has echoes of other miscarriages of justice. One aspect is the indiscriminate use of public interest immunity certificates to withhold information from family members and lawyers. In this case information in relation to the case has been deliberately been withheld for no apparent reason.

The case of the two has now been granted leave to appeal. Family and friends are demanding the release of all information in relation to the case in order to prepare the case.

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