The Five Demands

Diciannove dei ventotto prigionieri detenuti nella Roe House di Maghaberry, saranno oggetto di provvedimenti disciplinari per aver indossato gli easter lillies (giglio pasquali) nelle aree comune. Si presume che gli altri prigionieri li abbiano indossati senza però abbandonare le loro celle.
I  poppies (papaveri)  e i trifogli sono consentiti all’interno del carcere, ma non gli easter lillies perché  classificati come ‘emblemi del conflitto’.
All’inizio di questo mese Christopher Donaldson, che sta scontando una pena di 12 anni presso il carcere di Maghaberry, aveva perso una causa per il riconoscimento del diritto di indossare i gigli di Pasqua.
Tutti i 19 prigionieri dovranno affrontare la sospensione dei loro privilegi e un periodo di isolamente nelle celle di punizione del carcere.

Inmates to be punished over lilies  (The Irish News)
Out of 28 prisoners being held in Roe House, the ‘separated wing’ of the Co Antrim prison near Lisburn, 19 are to be disciplined for wearing the symbol outside their cells.
It is believed that other republican prisoners also wore lilies but without leaving their cells.
Poppies and shamrocks are permitted within the prison but Easter lilies are banned because they are classed as ‘conflict emblems’.
Earlier this month Belfast man Christopher Donaldson, who is serving a 12-year sentence, failed to secure a judicial review to challenge the ban on the grounds that it interfered with his already restricted scope for political expression.
A judge upheld an earlier ruling in 2006 after a case taken by the north Belfast republican Terence McCafferty.
In December last year McCafferty was returned to prison after his parole licence was revoked by the secretary of state.
He is one of the prisoners now facing punishment for wearing a lily.
All the 19 prisoners face loss of privileges and time in isolation in the prison’s punishment cells.