Justice Again?
Alan Erwin run an article in the Belfast telegraph on 7.6.13 about Bobby Rodgers and his failure to be granted a pardon for the killing of Eileen Doherty. This whole issue of dealing with the past continues to loom large in our society today. This case raises important issues. However even before the article begins I note the headline which starts, “He shot this 19 year old girl..” Actual coverage of Bobby’s trial and even the article (see paragraph 6) says that he did not shoot the girl but the court found that he was there. How can the headline say HE shot the girl when even a judge says he did not? It reminds me a bit about the Nazi propagandist, Josef Goebbels and I paraphrase; ‘if you are going to tell a lie, tell a big one’. It is a sad forerunner to the rest of article.
Mr Erwin says that it was a murder that shocked the community. No less shocking that the murder of James Larkin and Ivor Vennard. No more shocking than the previous 10 women killed in the Troubles prior to this. No less shocking than the all the children killed by the IRA, the loyalists and security forces up to this date. Any more shocking than the people left lifeless and mangled on the 21 st July 1972? If there is one thing about the article it is the complete and utter lack of context about those dark days.
I have said it before but it is a shame and painful loss for all the lost lives in the troubles. The unseen damage and the unmeasured hurt. The British system of justice has its balance of prosecution and defence so it was with interest and surprise that I read about the prosecuting Q.C. saying that it was his submission that Bobby not serving time for the killing was “unconscionable”. I am going to assume that this term is used in its legal sense which means that;
When a court uses the word unconscionable to describe
conduct, it means that the conduct does not conform to
the dictates of conscience. In addition, when something
is judged unconscionable, a court will refuse to allow the
perpetrator of the conduct to benefit.
And also;
“The doctrine is applied only where it would be an
affront to the integrity of the judicial system..”
Seems fair enough but not so secure when one looks at various other aspects of the wider legal system. Is it unconscionable to consider a state agent being present when a man and woman are about to be shot in the head for alleged touting? It is unconscionable when a system gears up to put innocent people in jail of the best years of their lives? The Birmingham 6? How did the judicial system feel when after the Good Friday agreement men were released from prison, well before their release dates because it was part of the deal? What about the horse dealing behind closed doors that operates?
I accept Justice Treacys line that there is no amnesty. That’s a political reality, despite there being precedent in this country after previous terrorist campaigns. But what’s hard to live with is, people like Bobby, both loyalist and republican, that have served their time and made constructive and positive use of their lives after their release, will still be put in prison despite the political reality. I have of course not mentioned those involved in terrorist acts that are now politically untouchable i.e the 2 Gerrys. No matter what they have done there will be a political veto on their arrest or conviction. I can hear the denials already.
What I want and what I have said already is a clear line in the sand. Anybody, including security forces, who were involved in the Troubles before the Good Friday agreement should not be prosecuted now. But if we are to deal with those acts then let us deal with them all. And just on that topic could we look at those people who helped create the conditions and environment for the mess that the young people of this country walked into? Bobby, myself, fellow prisoners did not benefit, earn big money or have a happy time through all the years of violence and then years of imprisonment. Does anybody want to address this?
I understand that the British government are walking a tightrope. They are managing a political reality, balancing, quite properly, the rights and feelings of victims with the need to nurse ‘peace’ along.
Bobby will be welcomed home (again) by his family, friends and local community. Not because of what happened in 1973/74. He will be welcomed home because of the person he is today. The fact that he advocated non-violence with young loyalists who would be out on the streets creating mayhem. The fact that he was presenting a better way of resolving differences by talking and not using violence. The fact that he was using his experience to teach young loyalists not to walk the way many of us did in horrible times.
I will finish with a Bob Dylan lyric that Bobby would recognise;
Couldn’t help but make me feel ashamed to live in a land
Where justice is a game.
Now all the criminals in their coats and their ties
Are free to drink martinis and watch the sun rise.
P.S. James Larkin was shot dead 5 days before Eileen Doherty was killed. Mr Larkin was 34 and a father of 2. Ivor Vennard was shot dead 3 days after Eileen Doherty. He was 33 married with 2 children. 263 people would die in 1973 due to the Troubles.
Gaudeamus Igitur
