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28/10/2002
Sinn Féin meet with Police Ombudsman over Stormont raid
The Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan will meet with Sinn Fein's Conor Murphy today over the PSNI raid on the party's Stormont offices last week.
The meeting was called after police swooped on Sinn Fein's Stormont offices on October 4 as part of an investigation into alleged intelligence gathering by republican terrorists inside the NIO. Whilst police raids on north and west Belfast on the same morning yielded hundreds of documents, only two computer disks were taken from the offices by police. The disks have since been returned.
Denis Donaldson, Sinn Fein head of administration at the assembly, was arrested during the raids and is currently on remand.
During his meeting with Mrs O'Loan, the Sinn Fein Newry and Armagh assembly member restated his party's position that the raid was part of an "elaborately choreographed performance for the media". Mr Murphy further accused the police of carrying out a "heavy-handed attack on democratic institutions".
"This raid begs a number of questions. Who authorised this assault on the democratic institutions? What did the PSNI hope to achieve by carrying out this raid? Why did the PSNI arrive with the media in tow?" he said.
The Sinn Fein assembly group leader also said that two members of the party have lodged formal complaints with the Ombudsman's office.
He added: "Clearly the PSNI had no intention of searching Sinn Fein offices but were instead involved in a piece of political theatre. As we look at yet another suspension we must be aware of he damage that has been done to these institutions by the politically motivated actions of the PSNI."
Special Branch and British internal intelligence agency MI5 are carrying out further investigations over suspicions that an IRA mole is still operating inside the NIO.
Allegations of terrorist infiltration of government offices emerged again last week after a biography of veteran IRA leader Joe Cahill said that the IRA had been tipped off about the re-introduction of internment in August 1971.
(GMcG)
The meeting was called after police swooped on Sinn Fein's Stormont offices on October 4 as part of an investigation into alleged intelligence gathering by republican terrorists inside the NIO. Whilst police raids on north and west Belfast on the same morning yielded hundreds of documents, only two computer disks were taken from the offices by police. The disks have since been returned.
Denis Donaldson, Sinn Fein head of administration at the assembly, was arrested during the raids and is currently on remand.
During his meeting with Mrs O'Loan, the Sinn Fein Newry and Armagh assembly member restated his party's position that the raid was part of an "elaborately choreographed performance for the media". Mr Murphy further accused the police of carrying out a "heavy-handed attack on democratic institutions".
"This raid begs a number of questions. Who authorised this assault on the democratic institutions? What did the PSNI hope to achieve by carrying out this raid? Why did the PSNI arrive with the media in tow?" he said.
The Sinn Fein assembly group leader also said that two members of the party have lodged formal complaints with the Ombudsman's office.
He added: "Clearly the PSNI had no intention of searching Sinn Fein offices but were instead involved in a piece of political theatre. As we look at yet another suspension we must be aware of he damage that has been done to these institutions by the politically motivated actions of the PSNI."
Special Branch and British internal intelligence agency MI5 are carrying out further investigations over suspicions that an IRA mole is still operating inside the NIO.
Allegations of terrorist infiltration of government offices emerged again last week after a biography of veteran IRA leader Joe Cahill said that the IRA had been tipped off about the re-introduction of internment in August 1971.
(GMcG)
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