Latest news with #statecollusion
BBC News
13-06-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Pat Finucane: Chair announced to lead inquiry
Sir Gary Hickinbottom has been appointed by the government to chair the inquiry into the murder of Belfast solicitor Pat September, it was announced that an independent public inquiry into the circumstances of Mr Finucane's death would be set up. The 39-year-old was shot at his home in Belfast by loyalist paramilitaries in front of his wife and examinations of the case have found evidence of state collusion in the killing. The Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn said that the "exceptional reason" of outstanding and unfulfilled commitments by previous UK governments to establish a public inquiry meant it should inquiry will be established under the 2005 Inquiries Act, with full powers, including the power to compel the production of documents and to summon witnesses to give evidence on Gary is a former Court of Appeals judge who also chaired the Post Office Overturned Convictions Independent Pecuniary Losses Assessment Panel and the Horizon Convictions Redress government has also confirmed the appointment of former Police Ombudsman Baroness Nuala O'Loan, and international human rights lawyer Francesca Del Mese, as assessors to the inquiry. Confirming the announcement via a written statement to parliament, Benn said: "The murder of Mr Finucane was a barbarous and heinous crime and one which continues to highlight the legacy of the Troubles in Northern Ireland."I commend and support the tireless campaign of Mrs Finucane and her family in seeking answers to the brutal murder of their loved one and I am confident that this Inquiry will provide answers to the family who have suffered so terribly."Benn said he was delighted that the chair had accepted the position."I am confident that, together, their valuable knowledge, experience and professionalism will be of great benefit to the work of the Inquiry," he Gary said he was "privileged" to take on responsibility for leading the public inquiry."At the heart of this case lies a family who lost their husband and father in horrific circumstances, and I look forward to meeting the Finucane family in Belfast as soon as possible," he government said it will undertake a consultation exercise with the chair on the proposed terms of reference for the inquiry, which will be agreed and published in due course. Who was Pat Finucane? Pat Finucane was a well-known defence solicitor who frequently acted for high profile IRA also represented loyalists in his February 1989 he was shot 14 times by two wife, Geraldine, was also of his sons is the Sinn Féin MP John an inquest into his death police refuted claims that Mr Finucane was in the 2012, Sir Desmond de Silva's report into the murder found there was agent involvement and that police took no action on threat intelligence regarding Mr Finucane.
BBC News
11-06-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
The Troubles: Supreme Court to hear Paul Thompson inquest disclosure challenge
The Supreme Court will hear a case later which campaigners believe has implications for state secrecy around several killings during the Northern Ireland case has been brought by the Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary is appealing a decision in which a coroner intended to release some intelligence information about the loyalist murder of Paul "Topper" Thompson in 25-year-old was travelling in a taxi which was fired upon by the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) at Springfield Park in west Belfast. His family believes the case involves state Louisa Fee had planned to disclose a "gist", or summary, of intelligence at his inquest in March 2024, but Benn's predecessor, Chris Heaton-Harris, began a legal challenge which will now culminate in a two-day hearing in will be delivered at a future point. 'Critical questions' Amnesty International, Relatives for Justice and the Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ) are supporting Mr Thompson's said the case raised "critical questions" about the government's Neither Confirm Nor Deny policy, which is used "to prevent the disclosure of information on national security grounds".CAJ director Daniel Holder said: "This case has wide implications for numerous bereaved families and the rule of law."National security cannot surely be invoked to conceal state wrongdoing or the involvement of state agents in killings or other human rights violations."Mr Thompson's inquest was one of several halted under the last government's Legacy has pledged to reinstate inquests under a replacement act was passed by the Conservative government in September 2023 despite opposition from Labour, all Northern Ireland parties, several victims' groups and the Irish created a new legacy body known ICRIR to take over all Troubles-era cases from 1 May 2024, including those on the desk of the Police Service of Northern act shuts down all historical act's most controversial element, the offer of conditional immunity to suspects, has been disapplied following legal action by bereaved families.
Irish Times
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
Family of murdered GAA official to continue legal battle for public inquiry
The family of murdered GAA official Seán Brown have said they will take their fight for a public inquiry to the supreme court after it was again ruled out by the UK government. In a letter to Mr Brown's 87-year-old widow, Bridie, seen by The Irish Times, Northern Secretary, Hilary Benn said 'an inquiry under the Inquiries Act is not the best way to proceed'. A mandatory order given by the court of appeal in Belfast earlier this year found the UK government breached its human rights obligation to investigate the full extent of state collusion in the case and its refusal to order a public inquiry into Mr Brown's murder was unlawful and 'cannot stand'. Mr Benn has sought leave to challenge the court of appeal judgment in the supreme court, and a decision is pending. READ MORE [ Seán Brown family say decision to challenge inquiry ruling 'shameful' Opens in new window ] In a statement, the Brown family said 'this formal decision to appeal our case to the supreme court in London is a shameless defiance of the rule of law and represents utter contempt for the highest court in this jurisdiction. 'Our mother directly pleaded with Hilary Benn not to trail her to London, we asked him to respect the court and to do what the courts had directed him to do. 'We will regroup and regalvanise and will contest our family's entitlement to a public inquiry, as directed by five judges.' Mr Brown, a father of six, was locking the gates at Bellaghy Wolfe Tones GAA club in Co Derry when he was abducted and murdered by loyalist paramilitaries in 1997. No one has ever been convicted of the 61-year-old's killing. Last year it emerged that up to 25 people, some of whom were state agents, were linked through intelligence to the murder. In his letter to Mrs Brown, the Northern Secretary acknowledged he 'cannot, of course, now act on any decision that is inconsistent with the mandatory order of the court of appeal' but said he had 'considered what my preferred course of action would be, in the absence of a mandatory order'. He said he had 'weighed again a number of factors', including the views of the Brown family and that of many court judgments, 'important public interest factors' and issues of time and cost. 'I am committed to a process that is fair, transparent and – crucially – allows the greatest possible disclosure of information, whilst ensuring that proportionate safeguards remain in place to protect the security of the State,' he wrote. Mr Benn said reforms he intended to bring forward meant the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) – the investigative body set up under the UK government's controversial Legacy Act – would be able to 'complete the full and independent investigation that you seek, in a form comparable to the 2005 Inquiries Act'. This was rejected by the Brown family, which said recent news reports 'that the ICRIR is an organisation stacked with former RUC and soldiers further confirms our sincere belief that the ICRIR is infrastructurally prohibited from being able to get to the truth of what happened to our father. 'Despite this, the secretary of state has yet again proposed that we engage with this discredited body.' The solicitor for the Brown family, Niall Murphy, said that 'in once again refusing to convene a public inquiry the secretary of state has refused to take account of the widespread public revulsion at the failure to provide the answers the Brown family has been asking for more than 28 years. 'Equally significantly, the secretary of state continues to defy the judicial decisions of the coroner, the judicial review court and the court of appeal, the highest court in this jurisdiction. 'Despite all its public pronouncements, this Labour government by its actions continues to demonstrate that it does not recognise or believe in the rule of law, their treatment of the Brown family has been contemptible. 'By contrast, the Brown family are now ready and determined to vindicate their rights in the supreme court, the highest court of law in the UK,' he said. Following a meeting with the Brown family last month, the Tánaiste, Simon Harris , praised their 'enormous strength in pursuing this case' and said he would 'continue to use my influence and that of the Irish Government to bring about a resolution that is acceptable to the Brown family. They have waited too long,' he said.
