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US recognizes contributions of 3 Polish WWII veterans
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US recognizes contributions of 3 Polish WWII veterans
WARSAW, Poland — The United States has presented U.S. flags to three Polish veterans of World War II to honor their struggle for Poland and the Allies against Nazi Germany. The U.S. defense attache in Warsaw, Col. John Downey, presented the flags to Col. Halina Jedrzejewska, who was a......
'Assurance letters' sent to Irish republicans 'did not amount to terrorist amnesty'
UK News
'Assurance letters' sent to Irish republicans 'did not amount to terrorist amnesty'
The assurance letters sent to around 200 Irish republicans assuring them they were not wanted by police did not amount to a terrorist amnesty, a review has found. The scheme, which resulted in the collapse of the trial of John Downey, who was accused over the 1982 Hyde Park bombing, was "flawed" and "unprecedented", the inquiry found, but was not "unlawful". However, the letter sent to Mr Downey assuring him he would not be prosecuted was a mistake caused by a system "open to error" and the review found that two further letters had been wrongly sent.
The administrative scheme did not amount to an amnesty. Suspected terrorists were not handed a 'get out of jail free card'.
Lady Justice Hallett, who led in the inquiry
One letter was sent out to a potential offender after police used the wrong date of birth to search a database, which would have shown up a linked offence. The second letter was sent out although the suspect was wanted for an offence committed after the Good Friday Agreement. The judge-led review into the so-called "amnesty letters" scheme, which started in 2000, was ordered after the collapse of the trial of Mr Downey in February after a judge ruled the letter meant he could not be prosecuted.
Northern Ireland's First Minister has labelled the Government's handling of so-called on-the-run Republican terror suspects as a "murky deal" with Sinn Fein. The writing of state-sanctioned letters, which effectively granted immunity from arrest, led to the collapse of the trial of John Downey , who was suspected of involvement in the 1982 Hyde Park bombing. Addressing the Northern Ireland Assembly which had been recalled to debate the controversy, he said: "Let me make it clear that this British government and Sinn Fein scheme is and was wrong. Mr Robinson said the "secret letters" scheme exposed to the full glare of public attention a process that had been agreed well over a decade ago between Sinn Fein and the British government. Source: Sky News
IRA suspects are to be told so-called "amnesty" letters they have received will not prevent them from being "questioned or prosecuted". Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers issued a statement shortly after Prime Minister David Cameron announced an inquiry into the process which has triggered a political crisis. The letters, which effectively granted immunity from arrest, led to the collapse of the trial of John Downey, who was suspected of involvement in the 1982 Hyde Park bombing. Mr Cameron said there would be a judge-led inquiry into the arrangement that led to nearly 200 letters being sent to Republican paramilitaries as part of the ongoing peace process. Source: Sky News
David Cameron has announced an inquiry into so-called "amnesty" letters sent to IRA suspects which triggered a political crisis. The letters, which effectively granted immunity from arrest, led to the collapse of the trial of John Downey, who was suspected of involvement in the 1982 Hyde Park bombing. Some 187 letters have been sent out as part of the peace process - 38 have been sent since the coalition came to power in 2010, although the applications were received before then, and the last was in December 2012. Source: Sky News
Nick Clegg has told Sky News the Government is urgently looking at a judicial inquiry into amnesties on IRA terrorists. The Deputy Prime Minister said the Government wanted to avoid a "full-blown crisis" in Northern Ireland in the wake of the furore over the collapse of the trial of the Hyde Park bombing suspect John Downey . Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson on Wednesday threatened to resign unless the Government agreed to hold a public inquiry into the secret amnesties given to 187 Republican paramilitaries. The Democratic Unionist leader set the deadline for the end of the day on Thursday. Source: Sky News
Peter Robinson has threatened to quit if there is no review of the guarantee given to suspected Hyde Park bomber John Downey that he will not face prosecution. Downey, 62, received a letter of assurance from the Northern Ireland Office which led to the collapse of a case against him this week. Mr Robinson - First Minister in the Northern Ireland Assembly - said he was "kept in the dark" by the British government. However, Defence Minister Anna Soubry, a former barrister, said there was no chance of a judicial review. Source: Sky News
David Cameron has condemned the actions that led to the collapse of the case against Hyde Park bombing suspect John Downey as a "dreadful mistake". Source: Press Association
