Day 278 - 11 Jul 96 - Page 26
1
2 Q. I am sorry, I did not hear that?
3 A. I just said the ones at appendix 4 were the ones that I
4 barely got a chance to look at.
5
6 Q. Can you look at the last page of appendix 4; it is the
7 second page of the press release dated 5th March 1991?
8 ?
9 A. Is this page 410?
10
11 Q. I am sorry, I do not have the page numbers.
12
13 MR. MORRIS: Mine has got 399 on it.
14
15 MR. RAMPTON: That is not--
16
17 MR. JUSTICE BELL: That is just a little earlier on. It is the
18 document after that, the second page of which is 410.
19
20 MR. MORRIS: I have not got that. I have only got what Mrs
21 Brinley-Codd's witness gave me.
22
23 MR. RAMPTON: My Lord, I am going to read it out anyway, it is a
24 very short passage. The second paragraph on page 410 says,
25 "Steel and Morris are faced with libel laws which are
26 complex, oppressive and expensive to fight and have no
27 option but to represent and finance themselves. They are
28 determined to resist censorship and defend the truth. They
29 say, 'We have had to fight at every stage to defend our
30 legal rights and freedom of speech. The business practices
31 of multinationals should be subject to public scrutiny
32 without fear of censorship. Robert Maxwell's dependence
33 upon legal intimidation to silence his critics was
34 eventually shown to have been in the public interest. This
35 case is also of great public interest." Did you approve
36 those words or say them, or what, Miss Steel?
37 A. I approved them. I did not say them.
38
39 Q. You made a similar observation when you opened this case in
40 this court?
41 A. Yes.
42
43 Q. In July or June or July of 1994?
44 A. Yes. That is my view, that multinationals and other
45 people in positions of power should not be able to use the
46 libel laws in order to bully their critics into silence.
47
48 Q. The libel support campaign. By this date, early 1994, has
49 Mr. Mills joined the team by this time?
50 A. I don't think he had actually, but I am not sure.
51
52 Q. Who is it in the libel support who is writing this stuff?
53 He is not going to be sued, do not worry.
54 A. I cannot actually remember who wrote it. There were 9
55 or 10 people who used to go to meetings.
56
57 Q. And it exists, does it not, to support you and Mr. Morris?
58 A. It was set up to provide us with the financial support
59 and backing that we needed in order to be able to fight
60 this case.
