On the way home from a family holiday to Disneyland Paris with his wife and young children a member of Sinn Féin Poblachtach was detained in Belfast Airport for almost an hour by seven plain clothes individuals believed to be Mi5 and RUC/PSNI.

The activist was surrounded upon arrival at passport control by seven plain clothes individuals of which only two identified themselves. The remaining five refused to give their identity’s or who they worked for. He was told he had no right to legal representation or to inform anybody of his whereabouts. He refused and to enter the interview room and was told that if he did not go into the interview room he would be arrested and held for six hours. In the end after repeated refusals to enter the room the interview was held in the main hallway of the passport control. His wife was threatened with being arrested when she queried what was happening.

A written interview took place which lasted 45 minutes. In this interview the Mi5 agents asked all sorts of questions, asking about his personal finances, his opinions on Provisional Sinn Féin and the recent election result. As well as this he was asked of his opinion on drug dealers in his area and of loyalist paramilitaries and their plans. Dennis McFadden was also brought up and they asked his opinion on how it felt when he found out he was working for them. A number of questions were also in relation to Liam Campbell.

The detainment of our activist is a clear abuse of power. It was done clearly to harass and intimidate this individual and his family further. When he commented that this happens every time he flies into Belfast the female officer agent made the comment ‘that he should fly in and out of Dublin’. Already he is subject to countless stop and searches. Crown Forces are regularly parked outside his place of work and also premises which he visits as part of his work. Stop and searches are regularly carried out on him at his work place. During the regular house raids, personal and work equipment is regularly confiscated as ‘evidence’ never to be seen again. This is a common tactic of the Crown Forces who hope to see Republicans lose their jobs due to all this activity.

Sinn Féin Poblachtach condemns this latest attempt to intimidate our activist. It hasn’t worked in the past and it won’t now or in the future.

Críoch

Below is a picture of two of those involved who were also involved in the stopping of a Newry couple a few days prior.

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