December 9, 2002
Veteran Civil Rights Campaigner Oliver Kearney Fights for Bail for his Son
The following appeal is in regard to the plight of Ciaran Kearney, one of those
arrested, jailed and denied bail over the so-called "republican spy ring" in
Belfast. It is from Ciaran Kearney's father, veteran civil rights campaigner
Oliver Kearney, and is being supported in the U.S. by Irish Northern Aid.
Appell of Oliver Kearney to the Public
Dear Friend
I am very sad to tell you that, after thirty years of campaigning
for Civil Rights, in support of the MacBride Principles for Fair
Employment, and in defence of prisoners and extraditees, I am now
unable to assist my own son Ciaran who has effectively been
Interned Without Trial in a British prison in Northern Ireland.
In a politically vicious exercise of judicial discretion, Ciaran
has been denied Bail on the most spurious of charges, supported by
'evidence' which would summarily be thrown out of court in any
civilised jurisdiction, and is now being imprisoned until his trial
eventually occurs, perhaps in twelve, perhaps in eighteen months
time.
In Northern Ireland the granting of Bail is discretionary, and is
readily available to persons charged with murder, wife battering,
criminal assault, racketeering, money laundering and drug dealing.
The judge who refused Bail to Ciaran on a charge of 'possessing
documents which might be of use to terrorists', sat in the same
courtroom on the same day and granted Bail to a person charged with
possessing ammunition, who had been captured three days previously
with other members of an armed UVF gang, while breaking into the
home of a firearms dealer.
This senile old man declared that he would not make accusations
against Ciaran, and then promptly launched into a monologue of
wide-ranging speculative fantasies about what intelligent people
like Ciaran could be capable of doing if released on Bail. He then
suspended the Hearing, suggesting that senior RUC Special Branch
officers who were not present in court would attend the following
day to indulge the fantasies that he had paraded before their
subordinates. They duly obliged by attending to confirm that
'INTELLIGENCE' indicated that Ciaran was probably a cross between
'Carlos The Jackal' and Osama Bin Laden.
This man then displayed quite outrageous contempt for those many
good and honourable people who provided written Character
References, and who personally attended in court to attest their
conviction in Ciaran's good character and his innocence of the
charges; and he refused to countenance the most unreserved
commitments that Ciaran would provide any sureties, observe any
restrictions whatsoever, and would attend his trial when it
eventually occurs.
I do not intend to dissipate my energies in writing letters to
politicians, Irish or British government officials, or Great and
Good people who host thousand-dollar-a-plate dinners, since I know
what response I would receive if they bothered to reply. Instead,
I am making a direct personal appeal for help to those decent,
kindly American people whom I have been honoured to call my
friends, who supported prisoners and their families, fought the
MacBride Principles Campaign, and made the Peace process possible,
before any of these things became fashionable amongst the Great and
the Good.
I am attaching a Fact Sheet that objectively summarises the details
of Ciaran's experience, along with a suggested Program of Action,
which I hope you might consider adopting. Please copy both and
distribute them as widely as possible amongst your friends. If you
are willing to help, I shall be deeply grateful. If you feel
unable to help, no explanation is necessary.
We SHALL Overcome
Oliver Kearney
CIARAN KEARNEY JUSTICE APPEAL
Proposed Action Program (extracts):
I am Ciaran's father Oliver, and I am making a personal appeal for
your help in securing the release on Bail of this young father of
two little girls, who has never in his life before been accused of
even the most minor misdemeanor; who has been selected as the
POLITICAL SCAPEGOAT of a political coup d'etat orchestrated by RUC
Special Branch - the STAZI, which still controls the Northern
Ireland Police Service; and who is now incarcerated without any
time limits in a British prison.
If you are willing to help, please ensure that all your actions are
Non-violent, Legal, Persistent and Focused on the people who still
exercise power in Britain's Irish Colony - namely, the British
Government.
To commence the Action Program, Please:
1. Identify the public telephone number of the closest British
Consulate Office to your city, county or state.
Telephone this number tomorrow morning. Do not ask to be
transferred to any Consular Official. Speak directly to the
telephonist.
Inform her/him courteously of your name, any organisation to which
you belong, and without any abusive or offensive language, express
your outrage at the treatment meted out to Ciaran, and demand his
release on Bail. (...)
Jarlath Kearney (Ciaran's brother): Report on the bail hearing
„Ciaran went for bail on Monday. It dragged into Tuesday.
"The judge, in delivering his written decision, accepted the
impeccability of the character references which had been assembled
for Ciaran, accepted that Ciaran would not abscond and would turn
up for trial, accepted that Ciaran had made a significant
contribution to the peace process, accepted that Ciaran would
return to his full-time employment and his family, and accepted the
assurance that Ciaran would observe any and all bail conditions.
"Nevertheless, the judge denied bail.
"The sole basis for his decision was an acceptance of allegations
made by the DPP and PSNI Superintendent Robert 'Roy' Suitters that
Ciaran was a senior IRA Intelligence Officer who would continue
carrying out this activity if released. This untrue allegation of
membership of an illegal organisation (for which Ciaran has not
even been charged!) was couched in terms of other total untrue
allegations, including that he regularly attended Noraid functions
in the United States and consequently might use his network of
contact there to abscond. When this was rejected and Ciaran's
passport was produced, Crown Counsel explained that the allegation
was based on "police intelligence" (there's an oxymoron) and
Superintendent Suitters explained that he could have travelled on a
false passport! ...
"It emerged in court that Ciaran's fingerprints have only been
discovered on the UUP Response to the Patten Commission and an
anonymous political treatise about republicans ...
"So you can see how weak the case is. Yet a bail hearing is such
that hearsay evidence is admissible God knows what they would say
about Denis [Donaldson] if he goes for bail ..."
Ciaran Kearney - Fact Sheet
Ciaran is 31 years old, and a First Class Honours graduate of
Ulster University. He is married to Jane. They are buying their
own house in Belfast and they have two little daughters aged 5 and
3.
Ciaran is the son of veteran Civil Rights and MacBride Principles
campaigner, Oliver Kearney. Jane is the daughter of Denis
Donaldson, former prison comrade of Bobby Sands, and head of the
Sinn Fein administration unit at the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Ciaran played a leading role in the Economic Equality campaign of
the late 1990s, and he has been employed for 5 years as Policy
Research and Information Manager of the Falls Community Council
based in West Belfast. Ciaran has spear-headed crucial research
and analysis by the Council, and also by Sinn Fein, into economic
deprivation and inequality in the nationalist community; in Human
Rights; in the Review of the north's Criminal Justice System; and
most particularly in Reform of the Policing system, and the Patten
Commission Report.
His research has been submitted to the Northern Ireland Office of
the British government; to the Irish government; to the European
Commission; and to the United Nations.
On 4 October 2002 the Northern Ireland police service, directed by
RUC Special Branch, staged a high-profile paramilitary raid on the
Sinn Fein offices in the Assembly, and they arrested Ciaran and his
father-in-law Denis Donaldson at their respective homes.
Ciaran was held under arrest in custody for 6 1/2 days, and his house
was raided and searched for a second time during this period.
After holding Ciaran for 156 hours, the police informed him that he
was to be charged with 'possessing documents which could be of use
to terrorists'. Before being charged, a police detective agreed
with Ciaran's lawyer that the documents to which he was being
directly linked were not in themselves incriminating.
The documents were allegedly found in a rucksack at the home of
Ciaran's father-in-law, which allegedly included some documents
that 'could be of use to terrorists'. In the rucksack, the police
claimed to have found Ciaran's fingerprints on a political party's
published analysis of the Patten Commission Report on police
reform; to have found his fingerprints on a sheet of paper
containing notes for an essay on republicanism, which was allegedly
found in a section of the rucksack along with other sheets of
paper, some of which 'could be of use to terrorists'; and to have
found one of Ciaran's thumbprints on a plastic bag from a popular
clothes store, which was also in the rucksack.
The police claimed that the thumbprint on the plastic bag proved
that Ciaran 'must at some time have had in his possession all the
documents in the rucksack' including those alleged to be of an
incriminating nature.
The Belfast magistrate who remanded Ciaran in custody accepted this
evidence. Ciaran applied to be released on Bail to the Northern
Ireland High Court on 4 and 5 November. The granting of Bail in
Northern Ireland is discretionary, and the applicant is not
permitted to give evidence on his own behalf.
At the Bail Hearing the police confirmed that they are relying on
the above evidence, which did not place Ciaran in possession of any
incriminating material. However, they also claimed that police
'Intelligence' suggested that Ciaran was a 'Senior IRA Intelligence
Officer' who would be dangerous if released on bail.
Ciaran was denied Bail by the judge on the sole basis of this
allegation. He has been remanded in custody to await a Trial, which
might occur in 12 or 18 months time. He is effectively Interned
Without Trial as the victim of a political 'Frame-up' by the RUC
Special Branch, which still controls the Northern Ireland police
service.
