Nigel White was on his feet. “Sir, I must object to this shameless recitation of horror stories in place of legal substance!”
“Sustained, indeed!” the magistrate snapped. “Sir William? No more of that.”
“Yes, sir. My point is this. The government of Peru has uncovered proof that on the nineteenth of November of that year, fourteen days before the raid began, President John Harris was briefed in the Oval Office of the White House by a CIA covert operations chief named Barry Reynolds, that there was a group of former ‘Shining Path’ guerrilla mercenaries who had agreed to conduct the raid and the destruction of the drug factory for the price of one million dollars, U.S. Mr. Reynolds left the Oval Office thirty minutes after he entered with the verbal approval of the President of the United States to conduct the raid and to pay for it from secret CIA funds. In that briefing, Mr. Reynolds had provided ample warning that the only force available to carry out such a raid were professional thugs, and that a high risk existed that they would be brutal and bloodthirsty in their work, and might well disregard their instructions and maim and torture the occupants of the factory before killing everyone. President Harris, having been informed of this and advised by Mr. Reynolds to disapprove the raid, nevertheless ordered the raid carried out because he was convinced that stopping the heavy supply of processed cocaine and heroin from that district was far more important than the lives of those involved. Of course, the President undoubtedly did not expect women and children to be involved, but he did expect human beings to be the victims of the raid he was authorizing. We have copies of the presidential appointment logs showing a gap of thirty minutes in his schedule that day. While there is no mention of Mr. Reynolds’s visit in those logs, Peru’s investigation has uncovered irrefutable evidence of that visit and has verified the details of what transpired, and it is this proof that forms the unshakable foundation of this warrant.”
Nigel White began to rise but Jay put a hand on his shoulder and stood instead.
“Judge, may I ask a question?”
“I can’t see why not, Mr. Reinhart,” the magistrate said sarcastically, “since we’re apparently making up a new criminal procedure here as we go along. By all means, proceed.”
“Sir William, what is the nature of this so-called irrefutable evidence?” Jay asked.
With a supremely confident expression that sent cold chills down Jay’s back, Stuart Campbell turned and faced him in silence for a few seconds.
“I’m very much afraid, Mr. Reinhart, that we have that information from the source himself. You see, Mr. Reynolds was sickened by what happened. He has had a long and distinguished career with Central Intelligence and is a man of conscience who was directed by his superiors to bring this onerous option to President Harris. He did so reluctantly, thinking that a President of the United States would never approve the use of thugs and the dangers such an act entailed. After the raid he was in an agony of conscience and felt personally responsible. The record will show that he resigned his CIA position and subsequently contacted the President of Peru personally to inform him of his own involvement and provide proof that the raid had been ordered from the Oval Office.”
Jay took a deep breath and tried to look unperturbed. “That’s simply a ‘he said, she said’ case, Sir William. You can’t base such a warrant on one man’s uncorroborated allegation, especially since we know nothing of this man Reynolds’s credibility.”
“Mr. Reinhart, I’m sorry you have had inadequate time to research this. Mr. Reynolds knew the orders he would receive from the President would be covered up and that the official line would be that the meeting never took place, and he knew his position was very perilous should anything go wrong. So he took a singular, if illegal and risky, precaution to preserve the record if he should be later accused of acting without authorization: he used a state-of-the-art electronic device to secretly videotape his meeting with the President. In other words, sir, we have the proof, and it’s in our possession and ready for the committal hearing.”
Jay sat down in confusion, trying not to look as stunned as he was. If there was a videotape, even one inadmissible in a U.S. court, the entire equation had changed.
But the John Harris he knew was incapable of approving such a thing! And even a videotape could be misinterpreted.
“Gentlemen, with your permission,” the judge began, “I should like to reclaim my humble court and issue my ruling now, which is as it was to begin with. I find this Interpol warrant to have met all the requirements necessary for granting it full faith and credit, and I am thus going to sign the provisional arrest warrant for the apprehension of one John B. Harris, formerly known as President of the United States, for the charge of multiple specified violations of the international Treaty Against Torture. The arrest may be effected at the earliest opportunity when Mr. Harris is found within the territorial jurisdiction of the United Kingdom. And I shall now call a ten-minute recess and try to recall why I took this magistrate appointment to begin with.”
The magistrate got to his feet as the assemblage stood and waited for him to disappear into his chambers. When he was gone, Stuart Campbell turned and laid a copy of his brief in front of Jay.
“I need a copy of that videotape,” Jay said, managing a reasonably normal voice.
“Well, that will take some time, of course, if we’re willing to release it at all at this stage. I shall make that determination and let you know. Where are you staying? If we release it, I’ll see it’s delivered to you.”
“I need the tape today.”
Stuart Campbell turned to one of the solicitors who had accompanied him. “Can we even physically provide the tape today, James, should we decide to?”
“Maybe,” the man answered.
Campbell turned back to Jay. “Provided I agree you should have it, and I make no guarantees about that, I shall honestly do my best to get it to you rapidly, Mr. Reinhart.”
“You realize it’s probably inadmissible as evidence?”
“A major point for us to argue, eh?” Campbell replied. “That depends entirely on where Harris is tried, doesn’t it?”
“This isn’t over,” Jay said.
“Indeed, it is not,” Campbell said, shaking his head without smiling. He sighed and continued. “Please understand, Mr. Reinhart, I do admire your client, but even titans must answer to the law. We began moving in the direction of that little tradition nine hundred years ago with the Magna Carta and the legal restraints it placed on the original King John, if you recall. Eliminating sovereign immunity under this treaty is a great fulfillment of the rule of law, and I have no intention of breaking nine hundred years of progress by making an exception for your King John.”
THIRTY
Alastair finished the read-back of the air traffic control clearance and turned to Craig with a smile as he made a zooming gesture with his left hand and punched his transmitter button.
“Sigonella tower, Ten-Ten would like immediate takeoff clearance.”
“Damn right!” Craig echoed. “Let’s get the flock out of here.”