This is a very powerful set of testimonies put together by Relatives For Justice. Powerful because along with the words you can palpably feel the suffering inflicted by their, mostly, direct experiences of the Troubles.
It came out around the same time as the BBC Spotlight programme which highlighted a very real problem with the Downey case.
Note the haste with which a Northern Ireland case in which Mr Downey had been wanted for questioning before the resumption of the Northern Ireland Assembly was one of the first to receive a letter of comfort after the commencement of Operation Rapid.
But the apparent foregoing of live evidence suggests that someone in the PSNI either screwed up, or was deliberately closing a case that should have been left open.
It will fall to the House of Commons’ Northern Ireland Select Committee to decide what was going on here. In that regard, if in no other, it is long past time for truth and honesty.
Mick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty
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RFJ is a selective in its “victims”
It concentrates on alleged actions by police and army forces and ignores the actions of the various murder gangs involved.
Its “victims” include “volunteers” killed on “active service”
It is state funded but ignores FOI requests for breakdown of it expenditure
Its website had a link to “victims of republican violence” which (conveniently) never worked– attempted access simply produces a “hung” page..
An organisation safely to be ignored
The PSNI ‘following orders’ deliberately left closed a case that should/should not have; been left opened. The PSNI are not only corrupt and bigoted but are incompetent as well The RUC were blatantly sectarian through and through and the rehiring shows that nothing new under the sun changes. Rotten Useless c**ts
Barnshee,
I don’t see a problem with any group coming together with a common purpose. As for FOI, it’s not a public body so it’s not covered. Instead of playing the man, can we talk about the ball here? I did not include the video so that people could make gratuitous pot shots at them.
Dan,
You too. And mind your language if you don’t mind, you’re long enough in the tooth to know better!
Just to re-iterate the point of the Spotlight piece. Evidence was gathered that meant the case against Downey in Northern Ireland was live (though note please, not proven) and yet under Operation Rapid, it was closed.
This is in addition to the ‘dreadful mistake’ of not knowing the Met were actually still looking for him. Another critical discovery in this story, hidden in plain sight but apparently of no interest to the main political players in Northern Ireland (including, interestingly, the SDLP).
I didn’t include the part where Ian Junior lavishes us with some conspiracy theory that Downey was ‘lured’ to London, because frankly it’s a distraction from the facts as we know it.
There are questions in this case about what’s gone on operationally under the PSNI. Whatever you may personally feel about them there are no direct questions about the competence or otherwise over the RUC in this particular case.
I’m thankful that Spotlight picked this up. When I read the judgment I thought that that was the real story. You can go back and forth on whether the Hyde Park issue is an error or deliberate but the apparent closure of the Night case has not been explained.
The big question for me is had the HET completed its report before or after the letter was sent to Downey?
“I don’t see a problem with any group coming together with a common purpose. As for FOI, it’s not a public body so it’s not covered”
I agree –however that purpose should be absolutely clear
I would have thought that a more appropriate title would be “Some relatives for justice” or a similar designation which would reflect their “client group”
Were they subject to the Trade Descriptions Act some action for misdescription might be be appropriate 🙂
Publically funded bodies should be wholly tranparent
“But the foregoing of live evidence before issuing a letter of comfort means that someone in the PSNI either screwed up, or was deliberately closing a case that should have been left open”
There has been clearly a dirty deal done which will be presented as accidental screw up /administrative error.
Documentation will be missing or vague.
Fall guys have already been selected however these these are already safely beyond any sanction or placed there (Hain for example will be booted into the House of Lords)
Telescopes will be placed on blind eyes.A small blessing will be the further derison (if that possible) of T Blair and his creep Powell
The sequence of events which lead to Downey getting the letter with the mistake in it begins at paragraph 83 (page 27) of the Judgement from Justice Sweeney:
http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/Resources/JCO/Documents/Judgments/r-v-downey-abuse-judgment.pdf
More evidence of the letters scheme “hidden in plain sight”:
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200102/cmhansrd/vo020701/text/20701w35.htm#20701w35.html_sbhd2
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200102/cmhansrd/vo020701/text/20701w36.htm
Excellent find IanR. Who is that asking a question about Police and Prison officer Fatalities during this session of Parliament? Surely that can’t be a DUP MP, can it?
The Downey case reaffirms one thing, never ever trust perfedious albion they have a long long history of double dealing and the Downey case is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to brushing elephants under the carpet. Victims groups should brace themselves for more cases of manufactured mistakes like Downeys no matter what side of the religious divide the victims came from, its not as if its something thats never happened before in this part of Ireland. Ian Og’s rubbish about luring Downey to Britain is laughable when you consider the British, if they had fingerprint or other factual evidence, could have just initiated extradition proceedings against Downey without the cloak and dagger stuff but then again anyone who can ignore the overwhelming evidence thats in the public domain linking police officers with controlling and directing murder gangs is someone not to be taken seriously. Its got to the point where victims families can expect little justice from any body set up by the British whether the body is made up of police officers, solicitors or judges it will always be some form of whitewash or body without the power to actually solve the very problem it was created to solve.
BBCNI’s Spotlight programme informed us of an individual’s fingerprint having been found on part of a bomb used to murder two men in County Fermanagh.
For years after the murder this person was listed as wanted by the police. The HET, who reinvestigating the double murder, also regarded the individual as wanted, and informed the victims’ families of this fact during liaison meetings.
Suddenly, in and around 2007, the ‘wanted’ status evaporated. Now what could have been happening in 2007 that might have influenced this evidence disappearing act?
Ian,
Thanks, but I should point out that the letters themselves are, as I have painstakingly pointed out since this story, broke, entirely legal and above board. Which makes your ‘find’ a tree, not ‘wood’ as such.
If you pay some attention to the video and you’ll find that the Downey case has now got two flaws rather than just one. The letters are not the issue, it’s the process by which those letters were issued that matters.
Morph, I should point out that the links I posted are written answers to tabled questions, not transcripts of Parliamentary debates. (So no need to speculate about why Iris wasn’t paying attention with her mind elsewhere..)
It is very relevant as to the whole who knew what, when thing. I know that the First Minister threatening to bring down the institutions here is small beer if there’s a sniff of something that might damage the shinners about, it would appear quite incredible that the First Minister didn’t know. Would it be noted if the Shinners threatened to bring down Stormont on seemingly false pretences for party political interest? I think we all know the flurry of threads would be running for the best part of 2014.
#Shinnerhansardirisduppolicingboardeverymanandhisdogknewaboutitlist
Neil,
As ever, I love your enthusiasm, but is there any chance we can examine the actual materials rather than just going to back to having a conversation we’d find more confortable.