“Disaffected republican” refused bail

Mick noted earlier the arrests of what were described as “dissident republicans” but it’s intriguing to note that during the appearance in court today of one of those arrested, Seamus Francis Mullan, the description used was “disaffected republican” and reference was made to “charges stretching back to 2000”. According to this UTV report[streaming WMA file] Mullan was released in 1998. Given the recent machinations involving another criminal and paramilitary organisation there’s an obvious health warning to all this, but along with the reported threats, comments by the IMC et al, and the ongoing discussions, it’s also worthwhile pointing out that, with the BBC referring to him as a “convicted killer”, the name “Mullan, Seamus” appeared on a list of Provisional IRA POWs, as serving a life sentence in Long Kesh, dated 1996 and apparently sourced to the “Sinn Féin POW Department”, [could someone confirm that? – Ed], and on this list too.From the BBC report

He denies acquiring criminal property, having almost a quarter of a million illegal cigarettes and dishonestly obtaining nearly £20,000 in benefits.

Mullan, who served a 14-year prison sentence for murder, had assets worth £300,000 frozen earlier on Thursday.

That happened at a hearing at the High Court in Belfast.

Mullan was refused bail at Londonderry Magistrates’ Court after a senior detective warned he was likely to re-offend and interfere with witnesses.

He was arrested during police raids on 16 houses in Limavady and Coleraine on Tuesday in which a number of people were arrested.

Mullan’s solicitor, Thomas Doherty, disputed the scale of his client’s estate and told the court there were large areas of the case against him which he contested.

[Does that mean he’s not a “good” republican? – Ed]

We are reader supported. Donate to keep Slugger lit!

For over 20 years, Slugger has been an independent place for debate and new ideas. We have published over 40,000 posts and over one and a half million comments on the site. Each month we have over 70,000 readers. All this we have accomplished with only volunteers we have never had any paid staff.

Slugger does not receive any funding, and we respect our readers, so we will never run intrusive ads or sponsored posts. Instead, we are reader-supported. Help us keep Slugger independent by becoming a friend of Slugger. While we run a tight ship and no one gets paid to write, we need money to help us cover our costs.

If you like what we do, we are asking you to consider giving a monthly donation of any amount, or you can give a one-off donation. Any amount is appreciated.