Terrorism – Page 7 – Slugger O'Toole

Lord Chief Justice: “These are allegations of specific conduct. We cannot infer that the disclosure was inadequate”

Pete Baker on December 21, 2012, 5:25 pm

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Having sought, and been granted, a stay on July’s judicial review ruling for unconditional bail for Martin Corey until an appeal could be heard, the Court of Appeal has now ruled in favour of the Northern Ireland Secretary of State. From the BBC report The Court of Appeal had to decide whether the process undertaken by the panel, involving a gist of the information, was flawed. Judges carried out the assessment without access to the closed material. Delivering judgment on Friday, …

“The court heard that the device had contained 200g of Semtex plastic explosive…”

Pete Baker on December 11, 2012, 11:58 pm

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Depressingly familiar scenes both outside and inside Bishop Street courthouse in Londonderry on Monday as three men, including a brother-in-law of SDLP MLA Pat Ramsey, appeared on terrorism charges after their arrest on Thursday last week. From the UTV report Appearing in the dock, all three men refused to recognise the court. And from the Irish Times report Dozens of relatives and friends of the co-defendants crowded into the Bishop Street courthouse for the hearing. More than a dozen police …

“But today, identity seems more central to politics than ever before.”

Pete Baker on November 22, 2012, 5:17 pm

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Brian’s noting of the advice from Richard Haass to the Israeli government reminded me that there are other places, and administrations, who have received similar ‘lessons’ from The Process™ here. Afghanistan, for example. Of course, it always helps to have well-placed friends [writing your speeches! – Ed]. And it’s worth noting that Richard Haass’ role here was not without criticism… His successor, Mitchel Reiss, has been more forthright in his recounting at times. ANYhoo… There’s also Iraq. Where the BBC now reports Almost every …

Court lifts reporting restrictions on identities of Provisional IRA accused

Pete Baker on October 11, 2012, 9:12 pm

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The BBC reports that, following a legal challenge by the corporation, district judge Fiona Bagnall has lifted court orders prohibiting the media from reporting either the identities or addresses of five defendants who are accused of Provisional IRA activity in 1999 and 2000. As previously noted All five are charged with belonging to a proscribed organisation on dates stretching back to 1999. Four of them are accused of arranging, addressing or assisting in the management of a PIRA meeting on named dates …

“The terrorist constituency [are] the people we’ve got to reach out to..”

Mick Fealty on October 4, 2012, 8:15 am

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I found this slightly unsettling at first, but it gets more interesting as it goes on. Jason McCue’s performance at TED (which is what most TEDs have to be, tbh) is not the most sure and verges, at times, on the tricksy… But there is some very interesting content, not least the claim that the threat of civil lawsuit wasa powerful asymmetrical weapon against dissent Republican groups who struggled less against the potential monetary loss than keeping the core sympathy …

“Getting righteously offended has become something of a hobby over the last few decades…”

Pete Baker on September 24, 2012, 12:03 pm

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The ‘outraged supernaturalists‘ narrative may already be wearing a bit thin in Libya, and further afield. But, taking that narrative at face value, there may be some points being made that are applicable closer to home. From Saturday’s Irish Times Getting righteously offended has become something of a hobby over the last few decades. Nothing binds people together more securely than a perception that somebody else is saying something nasty about their faith, nationality or hair colour. Rushdie describes the …

Dolours Price “fresh interviews” on Adams contradicts Ed Moloney – Sunday Telegraph

Brian Walker on September 23, 2012, 4:54 pm

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“A convicted IRA bomber (Dolours Price) claimed that Adams had sanctioned a series of attacks on London in 1972, including the bombing of the Old Bailey, which killed one man and injured 200 more, according to the Telegraph. Price has given a fresh series of interviews in which she makes claims about Adams, which she says are the same as she made in the tapes being sought by the police. The bomber, who served eight years in prison for playing …

“In these regretful circumstances I offer no evidence in this case against the accused…”

Pete Baker on September 12, 2012, 2:22 pm

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In a short report on the collapse of the trial of a 20-year-old man charged with the murder of Emmet Shiels in Londonderry in June 2008, the BBC notes Emmet Shiels’ murder shocked the city, and brought a thousand people onto the streets in condemnation. Along with editorials and a controversial petition, too… The trial collapsed when the prosecution offered no evidence. The BBC report doesn’t explain any further, but the Belfast Telegraph report does At the time of the murder the Independent …

The day the western world stood still… 11th September 2001

Mick Fealty on September 10, 2012, 11:05 am

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On the day… Tomorrow is the eleventh anniversary of 9/11. I still remember my own experience of those events clearly. It was just after lunchtime in the River Path offices. All of us were in the large open plan area, heads bent over our glass topped desks and absorbed in a dozen different tasks. Then from far side of the office I heard someone say, “turn the television on”… and the next thing consternation from the tiny annex where the …

Charges re-instated against Marian Price and others

Pete Baker on September 5, 2012, 7:49 pm

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The BBC reports that the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) have re-instated charges against Marian Price and three Londonderry men in relation to a 32 County Sovereignty Movement Easter Monday parade in the city in 2011. Among those being charged again is Marvin Canning – the 50-year-old brother-in-law of Northern Ireland deputy First Minister, Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness. From the BBC report In May, a district judge said he would not return the four for trial as there were “no papers in front of …

“It’s up to the prosecution to make the case why it should no longer exist.”

Pete Baker on August 30, 2012, 6:03 pm

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The BBC have an interesting update on the reporting restrictions, specifically court orders prohibiting the media from reporting either the identities or addresses of the defendants, in the case of “three men and two women – some of them senior republicans – who are accused of PIRA activity”. From the BBC report All five are charged with belonging to a proscribed organisation on dates stretching back to 1999. Four of them are accused of arranging, addressing or assisting in the management …

“It is as if someone is trying to hide the sun with two fingers.”

Pete Baker on August 19, 2012, 4:01 pm

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Another ‘lesson’ from the Northern Ireland Process, being implemented in a more systematic manner elsewhere… Afghanistan’s government is rewriting history, literally. The education ministry has endorsed a new history curriculum for school students that deletes nearly four decades of the country’s war-torn past. The government says textbooks based on the new curriculum will help bring unity in a country traditionally polarised along ethnic and political lines. But critics accuse ministers of trying to appease the Taliban and other powerful groups …

“court orders prohibit the media from reporting either the identities or addresses of the defendants…”

Pete Baker on August 16, 2012, 8:01 pm

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In the News Letter Sam McBride has some extra detail to an interesting story, for a number of reasons, that was initially reported in the Irish News earlier in the week. From the News Letter report RARE reporting restrictions which bar the media from identifying five people charged with Provisional IRA membership have caused concern to an MLA. The charges, which have been brought against three men and two women, relate to membership of the Provisional IRA from dates in 1999 …

“We seem to have adjusted to peace by means of mass medication…”

Pete Baker on July 25, 2012, 12:55 pm

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Some contrasting reports to note on health and well-being in Northern Ireland. We knew in February this year that “the people of Northern Ireland are the happiest in the United Kingdom”. That’s by their own subjective assessment, of course. And a more detailed breakdown of the data suggests you might feel even happier living in some areas of Scotland. As long as you’re employed, older, and in good health… Of more significance is the study by Professor Mike Tomlinson– “War, peace and suicide: The case …

“There was contact with senior PSNI personnel explaining whose home it was…”

Pete Baker on July 13, 2012, 1:35 pm

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More difficulties with “due process” for Sinn Féin. This time it’s in Londonderry, where the mayor of the city, Sinn Féin councillor Kevin Campbell, has had his home searched by police and laptops and mobile phones taken away. The BBC report quotes SF MLA Raymond McCartney. Sinn Fein have described the raid as “inexplicable” and said the party will be demanding answers. “There was contact with senior PSNI personnel explaining whose home it was,” said Raymond McCartney. “They were in …

“the learned judge who granted bail [] did not have the power to do so in the particular circumstances of this case”

Pete Baker on July 12, 2012, 3:12 pm

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Despite earlier reports that the Northern Ireland Secretary of State, Owen Paterson, had ordered Martin Corey’s re-arrest following the judicial review ruling for unconditional bail in the case, it appears he merely sought a stay while an appeal was prepared. The Belfast Telegraph notes the Appeal Court’s initial ruling A judge who granted unconditional bail to a convicted double murderer did not have the power to do so, the Court of Appeal has ruled. Martin Corey is now expected to remain …

NI Secretary of State blocks Martin Corey release

Pete Baker on July 9, 2012, 7:52 pm

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Sinn Féin’s Raymond McCartney, deputy chair of the Assembly’s Justice Committee [and noted plagiarist! – Ed], may have welcomed today’s Belfast court ruling that the Parole Commissioners had breached former Provisional IRA member Martin Corey’s human rights in refusing to release him, and ordering his release on unconditional bail. But the Guardian reports that Northern Ireland Secretary of State, Owen Paterson has intervened. Corey had been released on licence in 1992 after serving 19 years for the murder of two policemen. Former NI Secretary …

Boston College: “No pledge of privacy nor oath of secrecy can avail against demand for the truth in a court of justice.”

Pete Baker on July 7, 2012, 2:14 pm

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The Boston Globe reports on the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit ruling in the PSNI/HET’s attempt to access some of the material in the Boston College Belfast Project archive. The project director, Ed Moloney, and researcher Anthony McIntyre had been trying to head the US Government off at the pass. And they’ve already opened another legal front… From the Boston Globe report A federal appeals court has upheld a lower court’s ruling ordering Boston College to turn over confidential materials …

McGeough’s Royal Prerogative of Mercy bid dismissed

Pete Baker on July 3, 2012, 3:10 pm

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Gerry McGeough may have had “formidable references from the very highest echelons of our society“, but they weren’t formidable enough. The BBC report that the Court of Appeal has dismissed his bid to be granted a Royal Prerogative of Mercy (RPM). [Gerry McGeough] claimed it was unlawful to treat him differently to others because he previously served jail terms in Germany and the United States. His lawyers advanced a number of comparison cases involving others who received the RPM. These included: …

“Those at the heart of the Sinn Fein machine know all of this to be true.”

Pete Baker on June 25, 2012, 3:12 pm

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Where Mick treads softly [always stepping on someone’s dreams! – Ed], Alex Kane rips the PR plaster off. [Mixed metaphors much? – Ed] ANYhoo… from the News Letter article Let’s be blunt about this: Martin McGuinness didn’t join the IRA and become the de facto commander-in-chief of the army council just to end up at a function in which he will be ‘presented’ to Her Majesty during a tour of her United Kingdom! But the meeting between McGuinness and the Queen …