{"id":3853,"date":"2018-09-06T09:15:52","date_gmt":"2018-09-06T08:15:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.longkeshinsideout.co.uk\/?p=3853"},"modified":"2018-09-07T09:22:07","modified_gmt":"2018-09-07T08:22:07","slug":"3853","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.longkeshinsideout.co.uk\/?p=3853","title":{"rendered":"no stone unturned"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2018No Stone Unturned\u2019 \u2013 The Lawyers Speak Out To Irish-America, Blame PSNI For\u00a0Arrests<\/a><\/h2>\n
Posted on September 5, 2018<\/a> | Leave a comment<\/a><\/div>\n
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PSNI CONCERN WAS IF FILM DAMAGED THEIR ABILITY TO RECRUIT AND MAINTAIN INFORMERS<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is an edited version of a statement issued to Irish-American activists by Niall Murphy, solicitor for film-makers Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey who were arrested at the weekend and questioned about the alleged theft of documents from the Police Ombudsman\u2019s office in Belfast during the production of\u00a0 \u2018No Stone Unturned\u2019, the expose of the 1994 Loughinsland killings.<\/p>\n

The journalists were arrested and questioned by officers from the Durham police but lawyers for the two men insist the operation was really a PSNI affair.<\/p>\n

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Barry McCaffrey and Trevor Birney \u2013 their arrests was entirely a PSNI operation claims their lawyer<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026.my view is that this was a wholehearted PSNI agenda. No doubts about that. Durham Police and the PSNI were keen to point to Durham\u2019s independence. What should also be noted is that only three Durham Police officers were apparent on Friday, the Senior Investigating Officer Darren Ellis and two detectives asking pre-prepared questions in interview, reading from scripts.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn addition to these 3 Durham officers the arrest and detention strategy involved well over 100 PSNI officers. There was at least 25-30 officers in attendance at each search location, the two homes and the business address and each Durham detective was attended by a PSNI detective in interview also.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe senior co-ordinating sergeant supervising the interviews was a PSNI officer as was the custody sergeant who imposed restrictions on the liberty of the two journalists when granting bail. This same custody sergeant also refused to release tape recordings of the interviews in abject departure from ordinary practice.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my respectful opinion, this arrest and interview strategy was overwhelmingly directed and executed by officers of the PSNI.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe arrests occurred on Friday 31 August and as Saturday 1st turned to Sunday 2nd September, Drew Harris assumed his powers as Garda Commissioner in the south. One train of thought might say that this was his parting gift.<\/p>\n

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The victims of the Loughinisland killings<\/p>\n

\u201cThe irony is that the producers of the film, Trevor Birney and Alex Gibney had actually proactively sought out the senior command of the PSNI to TELL THEM that the film would be naming the names of the suspects. ACC Stephen Martin was the senior officer who reposed no concerns other than if the film intending EXPLICITLY revealing that any of the suspects were in fact informers, as that would impact the ability of the PSNI to recruit and maintain informers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is obvious that the interests of the families of those murdered are of little or no concern.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Truth Cannot Be Arrested.\u00a0 The film, as you know, premiered in New York on 30 September, (2017). A link was provided to the Police Ombudsman simultaneously with the British premiere in London a week later on 7 October (2017). As such, the Ombudsman had a full week to seek an injunction as did the killers and the police, as the details were widely circulated on social media. No such injunction was taken, nobody has issued libel proceedings (although the 12 month limit to issue proceedings doesn\u2019t expire until 7 October) and press complaints lodged against newspapers were all dismissed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis arrest strategy is an utter farce solely directed at intimidating those who seek to expose state involvement in murder. Journalists today, NGO\u2019s, lawyers and families tomorrow\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018A free press is the unsleeping guardian of every other right that free men prize; it is the most dangerous foe of tyranny\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cIronically this is a quote from Winston Churchill\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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