The Five Demands

Lo scorso fine settimana, un giovane uomo è stato costretto a stazionare in una strada trafficata indossando un cartello con scritto ‘Sono uno scassinatore e un ladro’. Ad Andersonstown Park, si è adunata attorno lui una folla e poi verso mezzogiorno l’uomo è stato allontanato dalla polizia ed il cartello è stato sequestrato.
Si tratterebbe di una forma di giustizia in stile paramilitare, legata all’escalation dell’attività dei dissidenti repubblicani e all’emergere di un nuovo gruppo con base a Belfast, chiamato Oglaigh na hÉireann (ONH).
L’Oglaigh na hÉireann è stato accusato di essere responsabile di 15 attacchi in stile paramilitare, il cui numero si è più che quadruplicato passando dai 7 casi del 2007 ai 27 del 2008.
E’ stato proprio all’inizio di febbraio, che Gerry Adams, leader del Sinn Fein, ha accusato la Continuity IRA, la Real IRA, l’INLA e l’ ONH di essere fortemente coinvolti in atti di estorsione e intimidazioni.

Public humiliation for man with ‘punishment placard’ (The Irish News)
Paramilitary-style justice was back on the streets of west Belfast at the weekend when a young man was forced to stand on a busy road wearing a placard claiming he was a house burglar and a thief.
A crowd gathered at Andersonstown Park, near Casement Park, on Saturday afternoon to watch the man stand on a traffic island wearing the placard with allegations of criminality on it.
The sign worn by the man – who is believed to come from Twinbrook – carried his name and allegations that included ‘house-breaker’ and ‘thief’.
Police were called around noon and the man was removed from public sight. A PSNI spokeswoman said police had received a report of “a male displaying a large placard” on the
Andersonstown Road.
“Upon arriving, a crowd had gathered. He was removed from the area and the placard was seized. Enquiries are continuing,” she said.
It is believed to be the first name-and- shame incident since a similar high-profile episode in the Shankill area of west Belfast last year.
The two men, both in their early twenties, paced the road for almost an hour last January before police intervened and removed the boards which had ‘I’m a thief and a burglar’ written on them.
This followed a similar incident in August 2007, when a man was ‘tarred and feathered’ in a paramilitary-style attack in the loyalist Taughmonagh estate in south Belfast.
“If anyone has evidence on this individual involving breaking into houses, they should give it to the PSNI,” Sinn Fein assembly member Paul Maskey said.
“They have responsibility to ensure this type of crime is stopped.”
Saturday’s incident comes just days after The Irish News revealed that the number of paramilitary-style attacks by republicans had risen to a five-year high.
It is believed the rise is largely down to a rise in dissident republican activity and the emergence of a new Belfast-based group calling itself Oglaigh na hEireann (ONH).
ONH claimed last month that it was responsible for 15 paramilitary-style shooting. The number of paramilitary beatings has also increased four-fold from seven in 2007 to 27 in 2008.
Earlier this month, Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams accused the Continuity IRA, Real IRA, INLA and ONH of being heavily involved in extortion and intimidation.
The west Belfast MP had previously said there had been “an increase in criminal actions by a number of organised criminal gangs who claim to be republican organisations”.