Irish Republican Information Service (no. 83)
Teach Dáithí Ó Conaill, 223 Parnell Street, Dublin 1, Ireland
Phone: +353-1-872 9747; FAX: +353-1-872 9757; e-mail: saoirse@iol.ie
Date: 18 Deireadh Fómhair / October 18, 2006
Internet resources maintained by SAOIRSE-Irish Freedom
Irish Republican Information Service
THE body styling itself ‘Limerick Republican Information Service’ is not connected with the Irish Republican Information Service (IRIS), 223 Parnell Street, Dublin 1, email saoirse@iol.ie and has not been authorised either by IRIS or by the body that sponsors IRIS, Republican Sinn Fein. Therefore it is totally unauthorised and should be regarded as such.
In this issue:
1. Blair-Ahern ‘final settlement’ not facing vital issue
2. Provos to take oath committing them to upholding British rule in Ireland
3. POW Day of Action held
4. Engineers call on Shell to halt work at Bellanaboy
5. Shell to Sea protester victim of Garda assault
6. Shell officials alleged to have offered €15,000
7. Sellafield fined by British court
8. Derry company exposed as arms manufacturer
9. Shortt family agrees settlement with 26-County State
10. Garda detectives ‘lied at Omagh bomb conspiracy trial’
11. DNA date held on over 1,000 innocent children
12. Basque prisoners on hunger strike
2. BLAIR-AHERN ‘FINAL SETTLEMENT’ NOT FACING VITAL ISSUE
IN A statement on October 13 Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, President, Republican Sinn Féin said the "formula to restore Stormont" and "the basis for an agreement" which was being sought at St Andrews, Scotland would not be a final settlement between Ireland and England because it did not address the historic Irish Question, ie the issue of the presence of the British government in Ireland.
The statement continued: "If control of ‘policing’ is to be ceded to Stormont it will merely cover ordinary offences and traffic, etc. The British government will retain control of security through the MI5, for which a huge headquarters is at present being built in the greater Belfast area.
"As Republican Sinn Féin has reiterated since 1986, the Provos are being dragged into the British net gradually. Their total immersion into the English system in Ireland is now almost complete and they may soon return to Stormont to administer British rule here.
"The result of today’s talks may well be Mr Blair’s and Mr Ahern’s "final settlement" but Irish history teaches us that there will be no permanent peace here short of total British government disengagement from this country."
2. PROVOS TO TAKE OATH COMMITTING THEM TO UPHOLDING BRITISH RULE IN IRELAND
FOLLOWING three days of talks at St Andrew’s in Scotland on October 13 the British government and the 26-County administration published their proposals for the reconvening of the Stormont Assembly as well as securing a commitment from the Provisionals that they will fully accept and support British colonial policing in Ireland doing so under oath.
Both the Provisionals and the DUP have until November 11 to indicate if they accept the document, which says endorsement of the RUC\PSNI is an "essential element" of support for so-called "law and order". If they both give their backing to the document both parties could then nominate the First and Deputy First Ministers on November 24.
Following a report by the so-called Independent Monitoring Commission the proposed deal would be subject to "endorsement by the electorate" in either election or referendum form in March, possibly on both sides of the British-imposed border. All the parties would nominate Stormont ministers on November 14. The Stormont Assembly and executive would be formally reconvened on March 26.
The Provos are required to hold a national conference to endorse their support for the British Colonial police before any election or referendum.
Many observers believe that the British and 26-County proposals represent a "considerable triumph", according to Frank Millar writing in The Irish Times, for the position of the DUP. It appears that the Provo’s endorsement of the RUC\PSNI would come two weeks before the formal nomination of the First and Deputy First Ministers on November 24. Paragraph six of the document says: "We believe the essential elements of support for law and order include endorsing fully the PSNI and the criminal justice system, actively encouraging everyone in the community to co-operate fully with the PSNI in tackling crime in all areas and actively supporting all the policing and criminal justice institutions, including the Policing Board."
The DUP have stated clearly that they regard "all the policing and criminal justice institutions" as including all branches of the British crown forces including MI5 and the RUC/PSNI Special Branch.
On top of this all ministers including the First and Deputy First Ministers will be required to swear an oath which includes explicit endorsement of the British colonial police and British courts in the Six Counties. It has also been suggested that the DUP have secured the agreement of the British government to nominate one of its nine Westminster MPs to the Westminster Security and Intelligence Committee, this they believe would mean they were no longer reliant on the IMC for an assessment of the Provisionals commitments to disarm and disband their military organisation.
Writing in The Irish Times on October 14 Frank Millar said: "It is not clear yet to what extent Sinn Fein (sic) is a party to any such scenario. However, what is clear beyond doubt is that should this come to pass it would mark a massive reversal of Sinn Fein’s (sic) declared position requiring institutions to be ‘up and running’ and a firm date for the devolution of policing powers to the Stormont Assembly before party president Gerry Adams could consider going to a special conference to finally resolve the policing issue."
The DUP pulled out of a meeting in Stormont on October 17 involving the Provos because of a dispute with the British government over the timing of when the proposed oath would be administered. DUP MEP Jim Allister also expressed his doubts about the St Andrews proposals.
3. POW DAY OF ACTION HELD
ON Friday, October 13 the Republican Prisoners’ Action Group (RPAG) and members of Republican Sinn Féin throughout Ireland and supporters of the protesting Republican prisoners in Maghaberry in Sweden and the USA held a series of events to highlight the plight of the prisoners, as another sell-out of the Republican position was being negotiated at St Andrews in Scotland.
A statement from the RPAG on October 13 said that efforts to highlight the conditions faced by Republican POWs in Maghaberry jail - "a regime which the late Msgr Faul described as ‘inhumane’ after visiting Maghaberry, shortly after he had received a delegation from the RPAG".
The statement continued: "However we have endured a media blackout. Clearly it is not in the interests of London, Dublin or their hirelings for the people of Ireland to learn of the appalling conditions in which Republican POWs are held in Maghaberry jail or their ongoing resistance to the Brit policy of criminalisation.
Republican POWs in Maghaberry jail have been on protest since the June 19. They have issued five demands. These are:
* Free association
* Freedom of movement
* The right to full-time education
* Separate visiting facilities
* The right to organise their own landings
Supporters of the protesting Republican POWs in Maghaberry jail took part in a number of protest actions in order to increase awareness. Belfast members of the RPAG attempted to take over the offices of UTV but were prevented by the RUC/PSNI. A letter protesting the lack of coverage given to the POWs’ protest was handed in to the UTV offices and read to a camera crew at the gate.
The following is the text of the statement read outside UTV in Belfast: "We stand here in solidarity with the Republican POWs in Maghaberry jail, who are on protest against the inhumane conditions in which they are kept. The English government - in conjunction with former Republicans - has sought to criminalise them by revoking political status under the terms of the 1998 Stormont Agreement. The Provos are presently in Scotland discussing ways of reinforcing English rule in Ireland.
"Meanwhile those captured resisting the foreign occupation of our country endure 22-hour lockups; no free association; no adequate educational facilities; visits alongside loyalists; misuse of the sniffer dogs and many other injustices.
"The Prisoners of War in Maghaberry have been on protest since the June 19. During this time they have refused to eat food in their cells - in which there is a toilet - as well as initiating other forms of protest. They have also undertaken 24-hour, 48-hour and 72-hour fasts. Their health can only suffer as a result, and as such there is an onus on everybody to do all in their power to resolve the situation in Maghaberry.
"Twenty-five years ago ten soldiers died on hunger strike to ensure that political status would be returned to those who came after them. Those incarcerated for pursuing the freedom of their country have an absolute right to political status - and this right does not and did not belong to the Provos to sign away.
"The Republican Prisoners’ Action Group has sought to increase awareness of the appalling conditions in which Republican POWs are held, and to this end we have held many white-line pickets, public meetings, meetings with concerned bodies and individuals; organised leaflet-drops and other forms of protest.
"However there has been a concerted campaign of censorship in the media. Every attempt has been made by those responsible to minimalise our efforts to inform the Irish people of the conditions in Maghaberry Gaol and the ongoing protest within the prison. But the prisoners have made it clear that their resolve is strong, and that their protest will continue until their demands are met.
"Republican POWs can never be criminalised. Political status now!
"Victory to the POWs!"
An RPAG picket was placed outside the gates St Andrews in Scotland to highlight the plight of the Republican POWs in Maghaberry. Whilst the enemies of Republicanism - including the Provos - were inside negotiating ways of bolstering English rule in the Six Occupied Counties, the Republican POWs continue to suffer inhumane conditions in Maghaberry. Those who signed up to the Stormont Agreement signed away political status for the POWs.
Several thousand leaflets were handed out in the centre of Dublin outlining the plight of the prisoners by members of the Dublin Comhairle Ceantair of Republican Sinn Féin.
In Cork members of the MacCurtáin/McSwiney Cumann, RSF Cork and RPAG (Republican Prisoners Action Group) turned out at Daunt Square in Cork for a vigil to highlight the continuing attempts at the criminalisation of Republican Prisoners in Maghaberry.
Hundreds of leaflets were handed out, highlighting the present conditions in Maghaberry and the continuing protest for political status, which had been won by the sacrifices of ten brave men in 1981 and was removed by the British government and those who signed the failed 1998 Stormont Agreement. The reaction from passers by was positive.
In New York members of the National Irish Freedom Committee (NIFC) staged a very successful demonstration outside the British Consulate in NYC on October 14. The demonstration was part of the world-wide Political Status Awareness/Action Day to support the escalating struggle for political status by Irish republican prisoners.
Participants passed out leaflets with information on the escalating struggle inside British jails by the Republican prisoners. Storyboards were carried by members of the group depicting the ongoing political status struggle beginning with the 1981 struggle in the H-Blocks.
The sidewalk in front of the consulate was busy with people; many of whom posed questions about the ongoing struggle for political status. The NIFC made its position clear by asserting that any attempt to criminalise the quest for a united 32-county federal Irish Republic, free of British occupation, will be resisted at every turn.
In Sweden the Ireland Information Group held pickets and handed out leaflets about and in support of the protesting Maghaberry prisoners on Saturday, October 14. There was one picket outside the British embassy in Stockholm, and one outside the consulate in Gothenburg. All the local branches of the committee plan to hold pub evenings/raffles in support of the prisoners in the near future.
Almost four months on from the start of the protest in Maghaberry it is imperative that anyone with influence exerts this to resolve the situation, which is hurtling towards crisis point.
The newly formed Glasgow branch of RPAG will distribute leaflets outside Celtic Park before the game in support of the Republican POWs in Maghaberry jail, on Saturday, October 21. Show your support for the POWs by meeting at the junction of Janefield Street and Holywell Street at 2pm, to collect and distribute leaflets.
Republican POWs will not be criminalised!
4. ENGINEERS CALL ON SHELL TO HALT WORK AT BELLANABOY
TWO chartered engineers have called on the 26-County Minister for the Marine Noel Dempsey to commission a report on the "optimum location" for the controversial Corrib gas terminal, which might help to break the impasse over the �900 million euro project.
Former Bord Gais official Leo Corcoran and Brian Coyle of Coyle Hamilton in Galway have also proposed that Shell should suspend any work at Bellanaboy while such activity is undertaken. Any further activity on the site they state will only "further damage" Shell’s relationship with the community, and will waste resources if the study comes up with an alternative location.
The engineer’s proposal was formulated in response to the endorsement of the Advantica safety review of the onshore pipeline by the professional body, Engineers Ireland.
Leo Corcoran is critical of Engineers Ireland’s analysis, and says Advantica’s terms of reference were too limited. A former senior engineer on the Cork-Dublin gas pipeline, he has already prepared a complaint lodged by An Taisce with the European Commission over the consents issued for the pipeline by former 26-County Marine Minister Frank Fahey.
In their new report, Leo Corcoran and Brian Coyle identify the key issue as the location of the gas processing terminal 9km inland at Bellanaboy, which involves running a pipeline through Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas.
The report claims that modifying the pipeline route away from Rossport, as proposed by Shell, is not the answer, they find, given Bellanaboy’s inherent unsuitability as a terminal site and its proximity to the catchment for a major water supply for Erris. "In order to end this conflict, we would strongly recommend that a new site be found that is outside the catchment of the major water supply and that both the terminal and any pipeline carrying unprocessed gas is kept well away from established communities," they state.
In a reply to the Independent Mayo TD, Dr Jerry Cowley, the 26-County Justice Minister said that to date the cost of policing for Shell at Bellanaboy is �675,639, for which Shell would not be charged.
5. SHELL TO SEA PROTESTER VICTIM OF GARDA ASSAULT
WELL-known Shell to Sea protester Máire Harrington was taken to hospital with suspected concussion on October 13 having been pushed to the ground by a garda.
Máire Harrington was treated at the scene by Independent Mayo TD Dr Jerry Cowley and was taken by ambulance to Mayo General Hospital in Castlebar. She chose to be transported to a Health Service Executive (HSE) ambulance rather than in an Irish Red Cross ambulance which Shell is required to have on the site.
Máire Harrington, who was released from hospital on the afternoon of October 13, said she had been knocked to the ground by a garda and had sustained injuries to her head and neck. She had been in front of a group of protesters and was carrying a cross in memory of Nigerian activist Ken Saro-Wiwa when she felt herself "flying through the air" and then lying on the ground. Máire Harrington said she weighed six-and-a half stone and represented no physical threat. She said the Gardai stationed in Bellanaboy over the past two weeks were "out of control".
On the same day two people were arrested in Bellmulet Co Mayo in relation to a complaint about alleged "intimidation", they were released that night without charge. A file was sent to the 26-County DPP.
The two, a man in his 60s and a woman in her 30s were detained under Section 4 of the 26-County Criminal Justice Act. To date six people have been arrested arising from the protest. On October 16 Independent TDs Tony Gregory, Séamus Healy and Joe Higgins attended a press conference hosted by Dr Jerry Cowley at the Bellanaboy site.
6. SHELL OFFICIALS ALLEGED TO HAVE OFFERED €15,000
A NORTH Mayo businessman who runs an adventure centre claims that Shell E&P Ireland tried to buy his support for the Corrib gas project with an offer of €15,000 euro last year.
Ciarán Ó Murchú of Coláiste Uisce in Elly Bay says that company officials assured him that no one would know that the money came from Shell if he accepted it.
He rejected the offer, but believes other businesses have had similar approaches by the company in a bid to "divide the community" and undermine those objecting to the onshore pipeline. Shell E&P Ireland deny the claim.
Ciarán Ó Murchú made the claim at a press conference attended by the four Independent TDs, Dr Jerry Cowley Mayo, Tony Gregory, Dublin Central, Seamus Healy, Tipperary North and the Socialist Party’s Joe Higgins, Dublin West, on October 16.
Addressing the protesters, flanked by gardai, the four TDs called for the terminal work to be stopped, expressed support for processing at sea and said they would complain to the Garda Commissioner about being filmed by gardai during the event.
It was "incredible that an Irish (sic) government" could transform part of Mayo into an "occupied territory" by sending in police, Joe Higgins said.
Ciarán Ó Murchú described how three or four approaches and a number of phone calls were made to him by two Shell officials.
"I was asked if I was doing some work at the centre, and I said I was building a climbing wall," he said. "I was asked how much it would cost and I said it would cost 15,000 euro. I was told the company would pay for it and that materials could even be delivered in the middle of the night if it was a problem.
"I depend on local families to house students coming to the college", Ciarán Ó Murchú added, "so I was aware of the implications of accepting any such money and was also aware that the company wanted to win over both me and my staff". Coláiste Uisce employs nine full-time staff and up to 30 seasonal staff in the summer.
7. SELLAFIELD FINED BY BRITISH COURT
A BRITISH court fined the Sellafield nuclear fuel plant £500,000 (743,000 euro) plus £68,000 in costs, totalling in euro 850,000.
The British Nuclear Group was fined by Carlisle Crown Court for failing to spot and stop an eight month long leak of 83,400 litres of radioactive liquid within the plant’s grounds.
The liquid contained 20 tonnes of uranium and 160kg of plutonium escaped from a broken pipe into a sealed concrete holding site. No-one was injured and no radiation escaped from the plant.
The company’s own internal report found that staff believed the new Thorp reprocessing plant would not leak and that "nothing could go wrong since the plant was relatively new". It also showed that staff had failed to carry out safety tests that would have revealed the 2005 leak earlier and a camera examination because it would have curbed production. The 26-County administration described the fine as too little too late.
Meanwhile it was revealed that British Energy has said it will have to shut down two nuclear reactors after finding cracked pipes at two power stations. Britain’s biggest power producer also said it was examining "a significant leak" in an underground cast iron pipe in the cooling water systems at Hartlepool, northeast England.
Asked about any risks to public safety, a company spokesman said that boiler tubes at Hinkley in western England and Hunterston in Scotland were cracked but not leaking and that water leaking from the pipes in Hartlepool were "non-nuclear".
Finance director Stephen Billingham, speaking to analysts on a conference call, said that British Energy would now have to buy electricity in the whole sale market to fill its contracts.
8. DERRY COMPANY EXPOSED AS ARMS MANUFACTURER
ARMS manufacturer Raytheon has confirmed to Derry City Council that their Derry base is involved in developing military software for the British Ministry of Defence (MOD). The council is set to reconsider its position at the next council meeting.
Without the support of the council Raytheon may have to pull out of Derry. In an internal document Raytheon says that if the council fails to back their project "the future of NISCC (Raytheon’s Derry division) is uncertain."
The Belfast Telegraph published British Freedom of Information documents showing that the Raytheon Derry plant was involved in the British MoD’s JETTS system, since 2005. The JETTS system, according to a Raytheon press release, "improves operational capability in battle by enchaining surprise, tactical agility, lethality and survivability."
Raytheon was awarded the lucrative contract just six months after it gave assurances to Derry City Council (DCC) that they would not be involved in military projects. Raytheon are an international arms manufacturing company specialising in defence and are the single largest manufacturer of guided missiles in the world.
There has been wide scale public opposition to Raytheon in Derry and in August the Derry Anti-War Coalition occupied their offices in Derry. Nine of the protesters have now been charged with unlawful assembly and aggravated burglary and are accused of causing 300,000 euro worth of damage at the plant.
In January 2004 DCC passed a motion declaring their opposition to the "development or production of weapons or any software whose end use is a military application… and if that is shown to be the case at Raytheon in Derry then the council’s position will change."
On October 9 Raytheon confirmed to DCC that they were engaged in developing such programmes.
9. SHORTT FAMILY AGREES SETTLEMENT WITH 26-COUNTY STATE
ON October 17 the wife and children of Frank Shortt, the Donegal publican falsely jailed for drugs offences, agreed a large compensation settlement with the 26-County State.
Frank Shortt was set up by rogue gardaí and framed for allowing ecstasy to be sold in his Inishowen nightclub, the Point Inn, in the mid-1990s. The 71-year-old was in jail for over two years before being freed in 1998 but his name was not fully cleared until 2002.
His wife Sally and five children, aged between 24 and 34, were compensated for the distress and suffering caused by their father’s wrongful imprisonment. The settlement is believed to be a six-figure sum and comes after €1.9m was awarded to Frank Shortt last year.
Two members of the 26-County police, former superintendent Kevin Lennon and his accomplice ex-detective garda Noel McMahon concocted the frame-up. They were later branded corrupt by the Morris Tribunal for setting hoax Provo arms dumps in Donegal in the mid-1990s as they tried to further their careers.
10. GARDA DETECTIVES ‘LIED AT OMAGH BOMB CONSPIRACY TRIAL’
A DUBLIN court was told on October 17 that 26-County two detectives lied under oath while giving evidence at the trial of a man accused of being involved in the Omagh bombings. The senior gardaí are accused of falsifying statements from Colm Murphy, who is alleged to have conspired with the bombers in August 1998.
Detective Garda Liam Donnelly and Detective Garda John Fahy appeared at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on October 17 charged with two counts of perjury. The pair also face two counts of forging notes and a single count each of using a forged document at the 2001 trial. The men deny the charges.
Both men were part of teams of Special Branch detectives based at Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan, who systemically interviewed Colm Murphy during his 48-hour detention in February 1999, senior counsel for the state Paul O’Higgins said.
He told the jury that the gardaí had been investigating the Co Tyrone bombing atrocity when they arrested Colm Murphy for conspiracy.
Paul O’Higgins said the prosecution would prove a third and final page of interview notes taken by the pair had been replaced with a new sheet before it was submitted as evidence in court. He said a forensic test known as electrostatic document analysis (ESDA) would prove the case.
"The foundation for this application is in relation to these three pages of notes and the prosecution will call evidence in relation to a process known a ESDA," said Paul O’Higgins.
"The process enables evidence to be found in relation to indentations which have been left on paper after other sheets of paper have been written on and the top of the sheets on which the indentations have left."
The prosecution claims the gardaí knowingly and falsely swore under oath that notes of their interview with Colm Murphy, on February 22, 1999, had not been rewritten and were an accurate account at his trial in 2001.
It is also alleged they forged notes of an interview with Colm Murphy on a date between February 21 and 22, 1999 and used a forged document at the trial with the intention to deceive. The prosecutor told the jury that if they came to the conclusion that one person had forged the notes, but in the course of a scheme both people misrepresented what took place, each person is guilty of everything that happened.
Colm Murphy, 53, was accused of lending his mobile phone and another phone to the people who planted the Omagh device, knowing it would be used for moving bombs.
He denied conspiring to cause an explosion between August 13 and 16, 1998. The court heard the unsigned and hotly disputed statements formed a significant part of the prosecution’s case.
Colm Murphy from Ravensdale, Dundalk, Co Louth, was convicted at the non-jury Special Criminal Court in 2002 of conspiring to cause the explosion and jailed for 14 years. During the trial, Donnelly lied 13 times claiming that he had not rewritten an interview statement. The claims were backed up by Fahy.
In January last year, the Court of Criminal Appeal quashed Colm Murphy’s conviction and ordered a retrial.
11. DNA DATE HELD ON OVER 1,000 INNOCENT CHILDREN
On October 16 the Derry-based Pat Finucane Centre has called for the destruction of all DNA records held by the RUC/PSNI on children who have never been convicted or formally cautioned.
The call came following a recent case in Derry where an 11-year-old girl had a DNA sample taken after she had written her name in inch high letters on Derry’s Walls. On October 13 the PFC accompanied the father of the girl to a meeting with the RUC/PSNI District Commander at which the fingerprints and police photograph were destroyed and the father was given a written assurance that the DNA had been destroyed. A letter to that effect from the Forensic Science laboratory was shown.
A Freedom of Information request lodged with the RUC/PSNI by the PFC, has revealed dramatic evidence of the widespread retention of DNA by the RUC/PSNI in cases where no conviction or cautioning has followed, where the child is entirely innocent in other words. In total DNA is held on at least 3,065 young people under the age of 18. The figure may be higher since a second database has yet to be checked. Of this number 1,119 have no convictions or cautions.
A spokesperson for the PFC described the statistics as "a serious infringement of the rights of these children. We do not question the need to retain the DNA of serious violent and/or sexual offenders but to maintain records on children who have not been convicted of any offence is bizarre.’
"When asked for their position on this the [British] Policing Board told the PFC that the Board has no position as yet. Why not?
"We would urge all parents in a similar position who believe that the DNA of their children has been retained to assert their right to oversee the destruction of such records. We welcome the fact that records were destroyed in the case involving an 11-year-old girl. Equally this case highlights the need to destroy the DNA samples held on 1,119 other children. To put them on a DNA database for the rest of their lives is a disgrace and must be challenged."
12. BASQUE PRISONERS ON HUNGER STRIKE
IN A statement on October 16 the Basque Political Prisoners Association confirmed that a number of Basque prisoners were now on hunger strike in Spanish jails.
The statement said: "As the fight for political status gathers momentum in the Basque Country, political prisoners belonging to the EPPK (Basque Political Prisoners Association) have now confirmed a prison hunger strike protest by those involved in the prisoners’ association.
"EPPK stated in a recent interview which was given to the Basque Newspaper ‘Berria’ that they met with several Penitentiary Institutions throughout 2005 to state their case as political prisoners and to demand recognition for political status as ‘political prisoners’. Such requests have to date not been taken seriously.
"The EPPK is made up of political prisoners from across the Basque Country whose aim it is to assist and as well as to deliver many protest actions within the Spanish Prison system.
"Many protest actions to date have been against ‘Strip Searches’, ‘Isolation & Confinement’, ‘punishment beatings and torture’ which is common practice.
"As well as protests for ‘political status’, ‘education and free association’ and ‘to be regrouped closer to home’ an act which is enshrined within ‘Spanish Law’ but isn’t on offer to any political activists. Political prisoners are dispersed far from their homes, their family, friends and loved ones."
A spokesperson for EPPK stated that although the present political climate has improved (slightly on the outside) they believed that the general process was in crisis and warned the Spanish Government that political prisoners must not be used as exchange elements, claiming that political prisoners are a consequence of years of political conflict.
However, to date their requests have been ignored by the Spanish authorities. Instead it is said that it was followed by "the wave of repression", not to mention further "political isolation".
The EPPK have said that they intend to carry out a hunger strike on October 19 and 20 to direct and to focus urgent attention to the demands for political status, self-determination and an amnesty for all political prisoners.
ENDS
