NEWS FROM SAOIRSE (freedom). The Voice of the Irish Republican Movement. Republican Sinn Féin http://rsf.ie 223 Parnell Street, Dublin 1 229 Falls Road, Belfast

THE imprisonment of two Limerick men for alleged breach of bail conditions is one of the most draconian decisions ever taken by the Special Non-Jury Court.

In fact Joe Lynch was ordered from the pub by local Special Branch and while he was outside the premises Christy Dunne was stopped by the police on the street — and both men were taken into the public house.

The detective inspector who could have been questioned about this sequence of events was “out of the country” the Special Court was told during the hearing of the alleged breach of bail conditions case. Instead five other political police gave evidence that they saw the two men together in the pub.

Joe Lynch has never denied that he was in the pub — but he was watching the Ireland v Switzerland soccer match — and he did not even know if Christy Dunne was also on the premises.

The draconian bail conditions imposed on Republican Sinn Féin men who appeared in the court last December on charges of alleged membership of the IRA were so wide ranging that it was virtually impossible to consciously adhere to them. For example the men were banned from all political activity involving Republican Sinn Féin including election campaigns, canvassing, distributing literature, meeting colleagues, selling newspapers or even being in the presence of other members of Republican Sinn Féin.

All these restrictions surely infringe the constitutional right to free association and to engage in political activity. If such restrictions were imposed on men in any other jurisdiction, there would be an immediate outcry of protest against State repression and abuse of the judicial system. However the imprisonment of these two men has passed without any form of protest from the civil liberties organisations or from those who are so vocal when human rights abuses take place in foreign jurisdictions.

We know why the State is seeking to crush Republican Sinn Féin — underlying the state harassment and intimidation is the fear that the Stormont Agreement is doomed to fail — and the State cannot tolerate the presence of an alternative Republican organisation to the discredited Provos.

Today the ideal of a united Ireland is under siege — those in the pay of the British and the politicians of the 26-County Administration are engaged in a campaign of vilification against people who aspire to a new and united Ireland.

In no other state in the world — except in the 26 Counties —can the word of a policeman imprison a person. In the Special non-j..ury Court the word of a policeman is sufficient to ensure that people are imprisoned. Today in the reactionary political atmosphere poisoned by the fumes of failure flowing from the Stormont Agreement a simple accusation is sufficient — we feel that this procedure is tantamount to internment.

If we voice disagreement with the prevailing political view we are harassed, intimidated, stopped and searched and have spurious charges laid against us and we are even imprisoned. However we still say the Stormont Agreement is doomed to failure — because it does not address the real cause of the conflict in Ireland. The real cause of the conflict is the continued presence of the occupation forces of the British Crown in Ireland. The truth is self-evident and true Republicans shall continue to express it — even on pain of unlawful imprisonment.
 

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SAOIRSE -- Irish Freedom, 223 Parnell Street, Dublin 1, Ireland
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Web layout by SAOIRSE -- Irish Freedom December 7, 2002  Send links, events notifications, articles, comments etc, to the editor at: saoirse@iol.ie.