RIRA LEADER'S NEW BID OVER CONVICTION
RIRA leader's new bid over conviction
BY ED CARTY
THE leader of the Real IRA yesterday launched a fresh appeal against his conviction for directing terrorism claiming the key witness in his trial lacked credibility.
Michael McKevitt, 55, was sentenced to 20 years in August 2003 after FBI agent David Rupert infiltrated the terror group.
The dissident republican's lawyers told Dublin's Supreme Court Rupert was a lifelong criminal, weapons dealer, fraudster and drugs smuggler willing to do anything for money.
They claimed the former truck driver from New York became an agent for the US intelligence outfit in 1974 and again in 1992 when he was facing a prosecution for fraud.
"He was the lynchpin of the case," Hugh Hartnett, McKevitt's senior counsel, told the court.
"There was the coincidence of his being signed up by the FBI at the time he was being investigated for fraud. We were curious as to whether a deal had been done," Mr Hartnett said.
The court was given an FBI file which reported a conversation with a State Trooper from Rupert's home town and contained a string of crimes the agent was being linked to.
The court heard the British secret service MI5 advised gardai in the Republic how to alter documents that were being handed over to avoid any difficulties in the prosecution.
Reiterating the complex case brought against McKevitt, Mr Hartnett said: "Senior members of An Garda Siochana and the British secret service were prepared to tamper with documentation."
Mr Hartnett said the US, British and Irish authorities refused the defence team access to documents vital to their case. The court heard there were significant and dramatic failures in the disclosure of documents even though the state had a duty to ensure equality in court.
McKevitt, of Beech Park, Blackrock, Co Louth, was convicted of directing terrorism between August 29, 1999 and October 23, 2000. He is the only person to be convicted of the offence brought in after the Real IRA no-warning bomb attack on Omagh in 1998, which killed 29 people.
BY ED CARTY
THE leader of the Real IRA yesterday launched a fresh appeal against his conviction for directing terrorism claiming the key witness in his trial lacked credibility.
Michael McKevitt, 55, was sentenced to 20 years in August 2003 after FBI agent David Rupert infiltrated the terror group.
The dissident republican's lawyers told Dublin's Supreme Court Rupert was a lifelong criminal, weapons dealer, fraudster and drugs smuggler willing to do anything for money.
They claimed the former truck driver from New York became an agent for the US intelligence outfit in 1974 and again in 1992 when he was facing a prosecution for fraud.
"He was the lynchpin of the case," Hugh Hartnett, McKevitt's senior counsel, told the court.
"There was the coincidence of his being signed up by the FBI at the time he was being investigated for fraud. We were curious as to whether a deal had been done," Mr Hartnett said.
The court was given an FBI file which reported a conversation with a State Trooper from Rupert's home town and contained a string of crimes the agent was being linked to.
The court heard the British secret service MI5 advised gardai in the Republic how to alter documents that were being handed over to avoid any difficulties in the prosecution.
Reiterating the complex case brought against McKevitt, Mr Hartnett said: "Senior members of An Garda Siochana and the British secret service were prepared to tamper with documentation."
Mr Hartnett said the US, British and Irish authorities refused the defence team access to documents vital to their case. The court heard there were significant and dramatic failures in the disclosure of documents even though the state had a duty to ensure equality in court.
McKevitt, of Beech Park, Blackrock, Co Louth, was convicted of directing terrorism between August 29, 1999 and October 23, 2000. He is the only person to be convicted of the offence brought in after the Real IRA no-warning bomb attack on Omagh in 1998, which killed 29 people.
Further Information
Publisher: NEWS LETTER
Ref: NL/731
Published Date: 13-Feb-08
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