'On the run' letters damaged criminal justice
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The integrity of the criminal justice system has been damaged by the controversial On the Runs scheme, a parliamentary watchdog has said.
The Northern Ireland Affairs committee said the "one-sided, secretive scheme of letters" sent to over 180 Irish republicans should never have existed.
It came to light when one letter caused the Hyde Park bomb trial to collapse.
The On The Runs (OTRs) were republicans suspected of involvement in terrorist crimes but who had never been charged.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-32020826
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Committee chairman Laurence Robertson, MP, said the scheme had caused "further hurt to people who have suffered far too much already".
He said victims of the Troubles and their relatives had been "let down" by the government.
"If any scheme had been put in place at all, which is questionable, it should have been properly introduced and correctly administered," he said.
"It also should have been open and transparent. This scheme was none of those things."
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I can only imagine how the victims of these people feel.
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Speaking to the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee last September, Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers said the government was no longer standing by the On the Runs letters.
She said those who received letters should no longer rely on them as a defence.
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It'll be interesting to see whether the courts agree. |
