Britain’s Supreme Court on Wednesday lifted a ban that prohibited its government from sharing evidence about the infamous group of Islamic State fighters known as “The Beatles” with U.S. authorities.
The move comes a week after the U.S. vowed to not pursue the death penalty against two of the ISIS fighters that are being held in the U.K. and are accused of carrying out the bloody executions of Western journalists including James Foley, Steven Sotloff and an American aid worker Peter Kassig for the terror group.
In a letter to British Home Secretary Priti Patel last week, U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr made the commitment if British authorities agreed to turn over evidence in the case against the two men, Alexanda Amon Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh.
“We would hope and expect that, in light of this assurance, the evidence can and will now be provided promptly,” Mr. Barr wrote. “Time is of the essence. Further delay is no longer possible if Kotey and Elsheikh are to be tried in the United States, and further delay is an injustice to the families of the victims.”
A spokesperson for the British court said Wednesday that “the order concludes the proceedings in the Supreme Court, which means that the stay or the stop on providing material to the U.S. government is removed,” as quoted by Reuters.
Earlier this year, the same court ruled that a British data protection law prohibited U.K. authorities from sharing information with other countries in cases that could lead to a death penalty conviction.
• Lauren Toms can be reached at lmeier@washingtontimes.com.
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