The Five Demands

L’Irish News pubblica in esclusiva un articolo in cui si attesta la prossima costruzione di un’ala di ‘massima sicurezza’ (per i pentiti, i super testimoni ndr) presso la prigione di Maghaberry.
Durante tutto il 1980 queste celle hanno ospitato dozzine di lealisti e repubblicani, ma poi il loro utilizzo è decaduto nel 1985 quando furono sollevati dubbi sull’affidabilità delle prove fornite dai ‘collaboratori’ di giustizia.
Fino a quando nel 2007, il Chief Constable del PSNI Sir Hugh Orde, decise di consentire il ripristino del sistema per quei paramilitari che avrebbero fornito prove allo Stato.
Da allora almeno quattro lealisti hanno accettato di testimoniare contro i loro ex compagni in cambio della riduzione di pena.
Sono state fonti dello stesso NIO, a confermare la decisione di dedicare un’ala del carcere di Maghaberry ai ‘pentiti’.
Si è appreso che l’unità conterà di 16 celle e sarà situata all’interno della prigione, ma lontano dall’unità carceraria principale.
La decisione di costruire un’ala per i super testimoni è direttamente legata al Serious Organised Crime and Police Act (SOCPA)  del 2005, in cui si afferma che gli alti funzionari carcerari  sono legalmente obbligati a garantire la sicurezza di ogni prigioniero che intenda collaborare fornendo prove allo Stato.
L’unità potrebbe arrivare a costare 5 milioni di sterline a causa della necessità di aumentare le misure di sicurezza per proteggere i suoi detenuti dagli  altri prigionieri,  prevedendo anche attrezzature speciali per la cucina onde evitare l’avvelenamento del cibo.
Nessun commento ufficiale dal servizio carcerario che si è limitato ad affermare che “Sono attualmente in programma ampliamenti  a Maghaberry, in linea con l’impegno di creare 400 nuovi posti”.

‘Supergrass’ wing to be built at Maghaberry jail (The Irish News)
A purpose-built ‘supergrass’ unit is to be constructed inside Maghaberry Prison.
Throughout the 1980s supergrasses were used to jail dozens of loyalist and republican suspects for hundreds of years.
The system collapsed in 1985 over legal doubts about the reliability of supergrass evidence.
However, in 2007 it emerged that Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde had decided to allow the reintroduction of the system whereby paramilitaries give state’s evidence.
Since then at least four loyalists have agreed to testify against their former paramilitary colleagues in exchange for reduced sentences.
Earlier this month Portadown loyalist Steven Revels (also known as Brown) was jailed for 30 years for the murders of teenagers David McIlwaine and Andrew Robb.
He was convicted largely on the evidence of his former friend Mark Burcombe, left, who turned supergrass in exchange for a reduced sentence for his part in the killings.
Newtownabbey brothers David and Robert Stewart are being held in isolation in Maghaberry after agreeing to give evidence against 11 members of the Mount Vernon UVF.
However, senior prison officers are said to face a “logistical nightmare”, not only having to keep the brothers away from their former UVF colleagues but also separated from former Mount Vernon UVF leader Mark Haddock, who in 2007 was exposed as having been a Special Branch agent.
A Portadown loyalist implicated in the September 2001 murder of Sunday World journalist Martin O’Hagan is also understood to be in prison isolation amid speculation that he will give evidence against others implicated in the killing.
NIO sources last night confirmed that a decision to build a dedicated supergrass unit at Maghaberry had been taken.
It is understood that the unit will include 16 cells – in the jail but away from the main prison population.
The decision to build a supergrass wing is understood to be directly linked to the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act (SOCPA) 2005, which states that senior prison officers are legally obliged to ensure the safety of any prisoner who has agreed to turn state’sevidence.
It is speculated that the unit could cost up to £5 million because of the need for increased security measures to protect its inmates from other prisoners, including special kitchen facilities to guard against the poisoning of food.
A spokesman for the prison service refused to comment on the plans.
“There are a number of building programmes ongoing at Maghaberry at the present time in line with the commitment to create 400 new places,” he said.
“It is not prison service policy to comment on security arrangements.”