ANTI-POLICE BIAS CLAIM BY GIBSON
Anti-police bias claim by Gibson
CRITICISM of the Special Branch handling of the Omagh bomb investigation by the Police Ombudsman "provides further confirmation of the anti-police bias within the organisation". West Tyrone Assemblyman Mr. Oliver Gibson has said.
Added Mr. Gibson: "For nearly two years now the Police Ombudsman has been seeking to get a conviction against individual police officers. After spending nearly �8.5 million and carrying out investigations, not one officer has been convicted of wrongdoing.
"The Ombudsman even want the ability to delve into anti-terrorist activity from 30 years ago in pursuit of a conviction, and the sad fact is the powers will probably be given when the Police Act comes up for review in a year's time."
Mr. Gibson said that it was against this background that the attack on Special Branch must be judged.
"Special Branch are, of course, a popular target for republicans and no doubt an attack on their performance will endear the Ombudsman's office to that section of the community, and will also help in making the republicanism cause for the abolition of Special Branch."
But, said Mr. Gibson, when all the rhetoric was taken away there was little to criticise.
"They got a warning from an informer, It was not specific, other than there was to be an attack on a certain day. There was no identification of the source, the likely route the to the target of even the nature of the attack. It is the kind of warning that Special Branch would get on a regular basis."
Mr. Gibson said the less specific information was the harder it was to act on. All the evidence was that the bulk of information received in such a way was not acted upon.
"If every piece of such information was to be used as a major alert, normal life would be impossible," he said.
And Mr. Gibson added: "The police are not to blame for the death and suffering which descended on Omagh, the killers who have been publicly named and are still at large laughing at the inability of the law enforcers to deal with them, are. As the Ombudsman seeks to shift the blame to the police, they must be laughing even harder."
CRITICISM of the Special Branch handling of the Omagh bomb investigation by the Police Ombudsman "provides further confirmation of the anti-police bias within the organisation". West Tyrone Assemblyman Mr. Oliver Gibson has said.
Added Mr. Gibson: "For nearly two years now the Police Ombudsman has been seeking to get a conviction against individual police officers. After spending nearly �8.5 million and carrying out investigations, not one officer has been convicted of wrongdoing.
"The Ombudsman even want the ability to delve into anti-terrorist activity from 30 years ago in pursuit of a conviction, and the sad fact is the powers will probably be given when the Police Act comes up for review in a year's time."
Mr. Gibson said that it was against this background that the attack on Special Branch must be judged.
"Special Branch are, of course, a popular target for republicans and no doubt an attack on their performance will endear the Ombudsman's office to that section of the community, and will also help in making the republicanism cause for the abolition of Special Branch."
But, said Mr. Gibson, when all the rhetoric was taken away there was little to criticise.
"They got a warning from an informer, It was not specific, other than there was to be an attack on a certain day. There was no identification of the source, the likely route the to the target of even the nature of the attack. It is the kind of warning that Special Branch would get on a regular basis."
Mr. Gibson said the less specific information was the harder it was to act on. All the evidence was that the bulk of information received in such a way was not acted upon.
"If every piece of such information was to be used as a major alert, normal life would be impossible," he said.
And Mr. Gibson added: "The police are not to blame for the death and suffering which descended on Omagh, the killers who have been publicly named and are still at large laughing at the inability of the law enforcers to deal with them, are. As the Ombudsman seeks to shift the blame to the police, they must be laughing even harder."
Further Information
Publisher: TYRONE CONSTITUTION
Ref: TC/0977
Published Date: 28-Dec-01
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