The Five Demands

Trascorsi 7 anni tra la commissione del reato e la condanna dichiarata dai giudici della Special Criminal Court

Il trentottenne Barry O’Brien , residente a Mountain Court, Dundalk, padre di 3 figli, è stato condannato dalla Special Criminal Court a 3 anni e 9 mesi di reclusione per appartenenza ad un’organizzazione paramilitare repubblicana in stile IRA, ovvero l’Oglaigh na hEireann. Un reato risalente al 6 aprile 2004.
Da allora sono passati 7 anni. Un ritardo della giustizia sottolineato anche dai 3 giudici della corte (Paul Butler, Alison Lindsay), che ha comportato un lungo periodo di libertà vigilata, al quale O’Brien ha dovuto sottostare. La forte limitazione di libertà per un così protratto periodo di tempo, ha portato i giudici a ritenere sufficiente che l’imputato sconti  1 soltanto dei 3 anni e nove mesi della condanna, a partire da gennaio del prossimo anno.
Durante il procedimento penale durato 3 giorni, il Sovraintendente Capo Patrick Magee ha affermato la sua profonda convinzione di appartenenza dell’imputato all’IRA. Una convinzione che trova radici anche in un rapporto di conoscenza personale che lo ha legato per anni a O’Brien.
Testimoni del Garda, hanno rivelato il ritrovamento di impronte digitali appartenenti al repubblicano, all’interno di un’auto equestrata a Dublino nel 2003, insieme ad un quantitativo di armi da fuoco. In quel frangente, solo l’autista della vettura venne condannato di appartenenza all’IRA.
Nel 2004, la polizia perquisì la casa di O’Brien sequestrando biglietti della lotteria pro-Pows, walkie-talkie e € 6.000 in contanti.
O’Brien ha sempre negato che quanto ritrovato dalla polizia fosse a titolo di raccolta fondi per l’IRA.

Three-year jail sentence for man found guilty of IRA membership (Breaking News)
A Co Louth man has been jailed for three years and nine months at the Special Criminal Court for IRA membership.
Barry O’Brien (aged 38), a father-of-three from Mountain Court, Dundalk, was convicted in December last year of membership of an illegal organisation styling itself the Irish Republican Army, otherwise Oglaigh na hEireann, otherwise the IRA on April 6, 2004.
During the three day trial, Chief Superintendent Patrick Magee said in evidence it was his “strong belief” that O’ Brien was an IRA member.
Superintendent Magee also said he had known O’Brien for many years on a personal basis, and was very familiar with his activities “and of his involvement with the IRA”.
Garda forensic witnesses told the court they were “satisfied” O’Brien’s fingerprints were found on items seized from a car in Dublin in 2003, in which firearms were discovered.
The driver was subsequently convicted of IRA membership, while two other men arrested during the operation pleaded guilty to possession of firearms.
The court was also told that books of raffle tickets for “POWs”, walkie-talkies and €6,000 in cash was discovered when gardai searched O’Brien’s house in April 2004.
O’Brien denied these were for IRA fund-raising purposes.
Presiding judge Mr Justice Paul Butler, sitting with Judge Alison Lindsay and Judge Cormac Dunne, said that there was a seven-year gap between the commission of the offence and sentencing as O’Brien had taken judicial review proceedings.
He said that the court noted that as a result of this delay O’Brien had spent a considerable amount of time on bail with his liberty restricted.
Mr Justice Butler said the appropriate sentence was therefore one of three years and nine months to date from January 1 this year.