Murder and Cover Up in Northern Ireland
Oread Daily | 12.12.2001 21:08
MURDER AND COVER UP IN NORTHERN IRELAND
The Red Hand Defenders, a cover name for the Ulster Defense
Association (UDA), have claimed responsibility for the murder of
William Stobie, the former Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) Special
Branch agent and UDA quartermaster shot dead as he walked to his car
this morning in north Belfast. He had been at the center of
allegations that British forces had colluded in the murder. The Red
Hand Defenders said they killed him because of "crimes against the
loyalist community." Associates believe he was killed after
disclosing he was a police informer and for supporting calls for a
judicial inquiry into the murder of Mr Finucane. Stobie was
acquitted last month of plotting the murder of Belfast solicitor and
human rights advocate Pat Finucane in 1989. He had admitted that he
supplied the gun used in the killing, but said he was not aware that
Mr Finucane was the intended target. The murder of William Stobie
strengthens the call for a public inquiry into the death of Finucane.
Stobie had said that he told the RUC Special Branch about the planned
murder of Finucane before it happened but that they took no action.
He also told them afterwards where the murder weapon was dumped and
gave them the names of those involved in the murder, but said they
again did nothing to investigate his information. Finucane had
represented several IRA suspects successfully making him a thorn in
the side of the security forces. He was gunned down in his north
Belfast home in front of his wife and children on February 12 1989.
He was shot 14 times. The murder was the focus of allegations that
members of the security forces had colluded with loyalist
paramilitaries prompting several human rights groups and a United
Nations team to carry out investigations. Stobie's accusations were
not without support. In a recent documentary made by Ulster
Television, a former RUC Detective in the RUC Criminal Investigation
Branch (CID), Detective Sergeant Johnson 'Jonty' Brown, said that
Special Branch routinely blocked investigations and destroyed
evidence in order to protect informers. This included the
investigation into, and evidence concerning, the murder of Pat
Finucane. Detective Sergeant Brown has gone on record to confirm that
Special Branch had destroyed a tape he made which recorded a
confession from a member of the loyalist gang who entered the
Finucane home in February 1989. According to Brown, a high level
decision was made to block the murder investigation.
Sinn Fein Assembly member for North Belfast Gerry Kelly commenting on
the Stobie killing, said people should not jump to conclusions that
this was simply a loyalist attack. "While a loyalist may have been
the person who pulled the trigger, it is clear that those who had
most to gain from the death of William Stobie were his RUC Special
Branch handlers. Many people will be convinced that this killing
smells of the RUC Special Branch and British Military Intelligence
getting rid of an embarrassment and potential problems down the
road." The human rights group British Irish Rights Watch immediately
called for an independent investigation of the Stobie murder and the
killing of Finucane. Finucane's murder is currently under
investigation by a team of officers headed by the Metropolitan police
commissioner, Sir John Stevens.
In a statement today, the family of Mr Finucane expressed shock at Mr
Stobie's killing. They said: "The family did not want him murdered
nor did they even want him prosecuted. All they wanted was the
truth. There have been too many murders and too many grieving
relatives. If a public inquiry had been established into Pat's
murder instead of the Stevens police investigation, Billy Stobie
could have been granted anonymity and his identity unknown and he
would probably still be alive today."
Sources: Pat Finucane Centre, Irish Abroad, Irish Republican News and
Information, British Irish Rights Watch, UTV, The Guardian, Irish
American Information Service
The Oread Daily provides daily (Monday-Friday) progressive, left, anti-racist, anarchist, commie, activist, environmental, Marxist, revolutionary, etc. news and information from around the US and around the world. The Oread Daily was a mimeographed sheet that came out first in the summer of 1970 in Lawrence, Kansas. It was irreverent, radical, spicy, revolutionary et. al. Now, three decades later it returns. To view the entire Oread Daily, please visit:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OreadDaily
The Red Hand Defenders, a cover name for the Ulster Defense
Association (UDA), have claimed responsibility for the murder of
William Stobie, the former Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) Special
Branch agent and UDA quartermaster shot dead as he walked to his car
this morning in north Belfast. He had been at the center of
allegations that British forces had colluded in the murder. The Red
Hand Defenders said they killed him because of "crimes against the
loyalist community." Associates believe he was killed after
disclosing he was a police informer and for supporting calls for a
judicial inquiry into the murder of Mr Finucane. Stobie was
acquitted last month of plotting the murder of Belfast solicitor and
human rights advocate Pat Finucane in 1989. He had admitted that he
supplied the gun used in the killing, but said he was not aware that
Mr Finucane was the intended target. The murder of William Stobie
strengthens the call for a public inquiry into the death of Finucane.
Stobie had said that he told the RUC Special Branch about the planned
murder of Finucane before it happened but that they took no action.
He also told them afterwards where the murder weapon was dumped and
gave them the names of those involved in the murder, but said they
again did nothing to investigate his information. Finucane had
represented several IRA suspects successfully making him a thorn in
the side of the security forces. He was gunned down in his north
Belfast home in front of his wife and children on February 12 1989.
He was shot 14 times. The murder was the focus of allegations that
members of the security forces had colluded with loyalist
paramilitaries prompting several human rights groups and a United
Nations team to carry out investigations. Stobie's accusations were
not without support. In a recent documentary made by Ulster
Television, a former RUC Detective in the RUC Criminal Investigation
Branch (CID), Detective Sergeant Johnson 'Jonty' Brown, said that
Special Branch routinely blocked investigations and destroyed
evidence in order to protect informers. This included the
investigation into, and evidence concerning, the murder of Pat
Finucane. Detective Sergeant Brown has gone on record to confirm that
Special Branch had destroyed a tape he made which recorded a
confession from a member of the loyalist gang who entered the
Finucane home in February 1989. According to Brown, a high level
decision was made to block the murder investigation.
Sinn Fein Assembly member for North Belfast Gerry Kelly commenting on
the Stobie killing, said people should not jump to conclusions that
this was simply a loyalist attack. "While a loyalist may have been
the person who pulled the trigger, it is clear that those who had
most to gain from the death of William Stobie were his RUC Special
Branch handlers. Many people will be convinced that this killing
smells of the RUC Special Branch and British Military Intelligence
getting rid of an embarrassment and potential problems down the
road." The human rights group British Irish Rights Watch immediately
called for an independent investigation of the Stobie murder and the
killing of Finucane. Finucane's murder is currently under
investigation by a team of officers headed by the Metropolitan police
commissioner, Sir John Stevens.
In a statement today, the family of Mr Finucane expressed shock at Mr
Stobie's killing. They said: "The family did not want him murdered
nor did they even want him prosecuted. All they wanted was the
truth. There have been too many murders and too many grieving
relatives. If a public inquiry had been established into Pat's
murder instead of the Stevens police investigation, Billy Stobie
could have been granted anonymity and his identity unknown and he
would probably still be alive today."
Sources: Pat Finucane Centre, Irish Abroad, Irish Republican News and
Information, British Irish Rights Watch, UTV, The Guardian, Irish
American Information Service
The Oread Daily provides daily (Monday-Friday) progressive, left, anti-racist, anarchist, commie, activist, environmental, Marxist, revolutionary, etc. news and information from around the US and around the world. The Oread Daily was a mimeographed sheet that came out first in the summer of 1970 in Lawrence, Kansas. It was irreverent, radical, spicy, revolutionary et. al. Now, three decades later it returns. To view the entire Oread Daily, please visit:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OreadDaily
Oread Daily