REAL IRA FACES CRACKDOWN
Real IRA faces crackdown
Civil liberties group worried about powers plan for court
by Brian Carroll Security Correspondent
GARDAI will move to crush the Real IRA at the end of the month, once laws are approved giving the Special Criminal Court power to lock-up suspected terrorists for at least six years for membership of an illegal organisation.
Mickey McKevitt, the man suspected of being behind the bombing, last night denied he had any hand, act or part in the atrocity. He, with his wife, Bernadette Sands, and his five children went into hiding yesterday after they claimed, through a priest, they had received death threats.
Meanwhile, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, who visited the families of the three Donegal people killed in Saturday's blast, said terrorist groups had 24 hours to declare a ceasefire or face the full wrath of the forces of law and order.
He expected to hear from the three terrorist groups which had not signed up to the peace agreement before he meets David Trimble, First Minister designate of the Northern Ireland assembly, in Dublin tomorrow night.
The Real IRA claimed responsibility for planting a car bomb in the Northern town of Omagh that killed 28 people. The bomb was the bloodiest attack in Northern Ireland in 30 years of sectarian and political violence.
Under the proposed law, the Special Criminal Court will be able to impose minimum six-year terms on suspected terrorists on the word of a Garda Chief Superintendent.
The senior Garda officer will simply be required to provide evidence of the suspect associating with convicted terrorists.
The drastic laws, which fall just short of internment powers, go before the Cabinet this morning with the approval of the Taoiseach, the Minister for Justice and the Attorney General.
The Cabinet is expected to approve the security measures today and a Bill will be drafted by Justice officials for presentation before the Dail, which will be recalled possibly late next week. The Government hopes gardai will have the power to act under these laws by the end of the month.
A one-day swoop on known members of the Real IRA is then expected to take place, with the Special Branch and Garda Emergency Response Unit arresting known activists.
The evidence required for a conviction before the Special Criminal Court has already been amassed in regard to the more senior members of the Real IRA, or Oglaigh na hUireann, as it now calls itself.
Surveillance has been going on for several months and the Emergency Response Unit moved into Dundalk and other border towns yesterday, with an overt presence in the hometown of the suspected leader of the breakaway group.
As the Real IRA issued a statement accepting responsibility for the Omagh bombing, anti-terrorist officers joined with the RUC to ensure a clampdown on the movement of weapons or terrorists over the border.
The new package of measures will amend the Offences Against the State Act to allow for seven-day detention of suspected terrorists; remove the right to bail of suspected terrorists likely to re-offend, abscond or interfere with witnesses; and allow the court to draw inferences from a suspect's reliance on the right to silence.
Officials from the Department of Justice, the Attorney General's office and the Department of the Taoiseach attended meetings with Justice Minister John O'Donoghue, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, and Attorney General David Byrne.
"It is not internment because that is administrative action. This involves going before a court. They are drastic measures, but in the particular circumstances the Government is of the strategic view that this type of action is warranted," a Government source said.
Irish Council for Civil Liberties spokesperson Michael Finucane said his organisation had grave concerns.
"We are as horrified as anybody about the bombing, but I don't think it's a good idea to convict people on the word of a Chief Superintendent and lock them up for six years. Once you introduce that into the Statute books, it can stay there for a very long time.
"In practice, a Chief Superintendent will not see suspected terrorists associating with others, but his officers will. They will have got information along the line from someone else. So you could have people convicted on the word of unnamed, unverifiable informants which, to all intents and purposes, would be the same as convicting somebody on the word of a supergrass's uncorroborated testimony," Mr Finucane said.
Courtesy of Irish Examiner
Civil liberties group worried about powers plan for court
by Brian Carroll Security Correspondent
GARDAI will move to crush the Real IRA at the end of the month, once laws are approved giving the Special Criminal Court power to lock-up suspected terrorists for at least six years for membership of an illegal organisation.
Mickey McKevitt, the man suspected of being behind the bombing, last night denied he had any hand, act or part in the atrocity. He, with his wife, Bernadette Sands, and his five children went into hiding yesterday after they claimed, through a priest, they had received death threats.
Meanwhile, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, who visited the families of the three Donegal people killed in Saturday's blast, said terrorist groups had 24 hours to declare a ceasefire or face the full wrath of the forces of law and order.
He expected to hear from the three terrorist groups which had not signed up to the peace agreement before he meets David Trimble, First Minister designate of the Northern Ireland assembly, in Dublin tomorrow night.
The Real IRA claimed responsibility for planting a car bomb in the Northern town of Omagh that killed 28 people. The bomb was the bloodiest attack in Northern Ireland in 30 years of sectarian and political violence.
Under the proposed law, the Special Criminal Court will be able to impose minimum six-year terms on suspected terrorists on the word of a Garda Chief Superintendent.
The senior Garda officer will simply be required to provide evidence of the suspect associating with convicted terrorists.
The drastic laws, which fall just short of internment powers, go before the Cabinet this morning with the approval of the Taoiseach, the Minister for Justice and the Attorney General.
The Cabinet is expected to approve the security measures today and a Bill will be drafted by Justice officials for presentation before the Dail, which will be recalled possibly late next week. The Government hopes gardai will have the power to act under these laws by the end of the month.
A one-day swoop on known members of the Real IRA is then expected to take place, with the Special Branch and Garda Emergency Response Unit arresting known activists.
The evidence required for a conviction before the Special Criminal Court has already been amassed in regard to the more senior members of the Real IRA, or Oglaigh na hUireann, as it now calls itself.
Surveillance has been going on for several months and the Emergency Response Unit moved into Dundalk and other border towns yesterday, with an overt presence in the hometown of the suspected leader of the breakaway group.
As the Real IRA issued a statement accepting responsibility for the Omagh bombing, anti-terrorist officers joined with the RUC to ensure a clampdown on the movement of weapons or terrorists over the border.
The new package of measures will amend the Offences Against the State Act to allow for seven-day detention of suspected terrorists; remove the right to bail of suspected terrorists likely to re-offend, abscond or interfere with witnesses; and allow the court to draw inferences from a suspect's reliance on the right to silence.
Officials from the Department of Justice, the Attorney General's office and the Department of the Taoiseach attended meetings with Justice Minister John O'Donoghue, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, and Attorney General David Byrne.
"It is not internment because that is administrative action. This involves going before a court. They are drastic measures, but in the particular circumstances the Government is of the strategic view that this type of action is warranted," a Government source said.
Irish Council for Civil Liberties spokesperson Michael Finucane said his organisation had grave concerns.
"We are as horrified as anybody about the bombing, but I don't think it's a good idea to convict people on the word of a Chief Superintendent and lock them up for six years. Once you introduce that into the Statute books, it can stay there for a very long time.
"In practice, a Chief Superintendent will not see suspected terrorists associating with others, but his officers will. They will have got information along the line from someone else. So you could have people convicted on the word of unnamed, unverifiable informants which, to all intents and purposes, would be the same as convicting somebody on the word of a supergrass's uncorroborated testimony," Mr Finucane said.
Courtesy of Irish Examiner
Further Information
Publisher: THE EXAMINER
Ref: TEX/086
Published Date: 19-Aug-98
Related Images
There have been no images archived for this article.