Sean Kelly has accused the PSNI of ‘political policing’. Picture by Hugh Russell
SEAN Kelly, the only person convicted over the Shankill bombing, has claimed he a victim of “political policing” in the wake of his recent arrest over the murder of Conor McKee in north Belfast.
The 42-year-old, who was convicted for his part in the 1993 IRA bomb atrocity, last night revealed he had met with the dead man’s family to tell them he played no part in his death.
Kelly was arrested at his home in north Belfast last week and questioned about Mr McKee’s murder. He was later released without charge.
In his only interview since his arrest the Ardoyne republican claimed he had was a the victim of “political policing” and reaffirmed his support for the peace process.
He claimed he is being singled out for attention by elements within the PSNI opposed to the peace process and believes his arrest is connected to attempts to have his early release licence revoked.
“They are trying to create a pattern, create a hype around it, that if they do go for it in their view they have justification,” he said.
His solicitor Seamus Delaney confirmed on Tuesday night he is considering legal action and has written to PSNI chief constable George Hamilton.
The solicitor said no evidence was put to his client during five interviews at Musgrave Street PSNI station last week.
Mr McKee (31) was blasted with a shotgun in the bedroom of his parents home in Glenpark Street in Oldpark in January in a suspected paramilitary attack.
He suffered from a heroin addiction and was on bail for drug offences the time of his death.
Kelly was released from prison in 2000 under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement after being jailed for life for his part in the Shankill Road bomb in October 1993 which claimed the lives of nine civilians.
The dead included: John Frizzel (63), George Williamson (63), Gillian Williamson (49), Sharon McBride (29), Michael Morrison (27), Evelyn Baird (27), Michelle Baird (7), Leanne Murray (13) and Wilma McKee (38).
Thomas Begley, an IRA man who was with Kelly when the bomb went off prematurely. also died in the blast.
In 2005 Kelly had his early release licence revoked and was returned to prison after claims he was involved in rioting. Sinn Féin insisted he was trying to stop trouble.
He has also been arrested several times in recent years.
He was questioned in 2013 after a teenager was shot in Ardoyne and last year was arrested about the murder of former IRA man Kevin McGuigan in east Belfast.
On each occasion he was released without charge.
Speaking on Tuesday, Kelly revealed his has met with Conor McKee’s family who he said told him they were “disgusted” at his arrest.
“I have also spoken to the McKee family and they fully accept that I had no involvement whatsoever in their son’s killing,” he said.
The republican believes he is being deliberately singled out and claimed “there is a clear anti-peace process element operating within the PSNI”.
“This is also being used by elements within the PSNI in order to create a crisis in the peace process and tensions in the local community,” he said.
“Questions remain, who really is pulling the strings?
“As recently experienced not a shred of evidence was produced during questioning.”
He said his treatment raises questions.
“It’s political policing at its worst and there are more questions than answers,” he said.
“This is a complete and utter onslaught on me personally and the process.
“It’s bigger than me, I am just a pawn in this and that’s my full view on it.”
The north Belfast man said he is a strong supporter of the peace process.
“I have been a defender of the peace process since I was released from jail and this is well known in republican communities and everybody knows my position.”
“My position on the peace process has seen me rearrested and returned to jail in 2005. That was also used as a tool and mechanism against the republican movement.”
During a 2013 commemoration for Thomas Begley Kelly said he was “truly sorry for the loss of life and the injuries suffered that day and the sufferings the families have endured”.
After his recent arrest unionists called for his early release licence to be revoked.
Kelly believes any focus on the bomb is being “used as a political football to create difficulties in the peace process”.
“The PSNI approach is not about investigating killings or getting the truth for the families affected,” he said.
“They don’t care about the families, they are trying to create a focus on me.”
Kelly said he will continue to work for republican ex prisoners and the “wider republican family” and said he remains “very strong and will not be deterred” by recent events.
The father-of-five said the continued attention and regular arrests have a negative impact on his family “whose lives are turned upside down each time I am targeted”.
His solicitor Seamus Delaney revealed he has three other clients that the PSNI have asked to present themselves for questioning about the killing of Mr McKee.
They have declined on the solicitor’s advice.
“Sean Kelly was not given that opportunity,” he said.
“There is no more evidence against him than there was against the other three which is why they were not arrested.
“He was arrested simply because of his profile.”
Mr Delaney said the PSNI had proof that his client was not involved in the McKee murder prior to his arrest.
“The police had in their possession for weeks solid concrete proof that Sean Kelly was not involved in this because they seized the CCTV from his place of work which shows Sean at work,” he said.
He also believes attempts may be made to revoke his clients licence.
“I am in no doubt there is a pattern and that pattern is designed to revoke Sean’s licence.”
In a statement on Tuesday night, Chief Inspector Justyn Galloway, said: “In the immediate aftermath of Conor’s murder we said we believed it was a drugs-related attack and that republican paramilitaries featured among our main lines of enquiry.
“That remains the position and we will go where the evidence takes us.
“I would again appeal to anyone with information about Conor’s murder to come forward to police.”
Malachy McAllister marching with the United Irish Counties in the New York St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Former parade chairman John Dunleavy is in the foreground. Photo by Dominick Totino.
The congressional effort to prevent the deportation of Malachy McAllister is being ramped up this week as the Belfast man enters the final two weeks before he must report for “removal” from the United States.
Private members bills are being drawn up in both the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate on behalf of the Belfast man who lives in New Jersey, but is a partner in a bar and restaurant business in Manhattan.
Congressman Joe Crowley, speaking on the Adrian Flannelly Irish Radio show on Saturday, indicated that legislators in Congress would be stepping up their efforts to secure an American life for McAllister, who is the father of a four-year-old U.S. citizen son.
New Yorker Crowley, and Representatives Peter King of New York and New Jersey’s Bill Pascrell, have already written letters on McAllister’s behalf to Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Jeh Johnson, and the Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Sarah Saldaña.
Crowley told Flannelly that he had also made direct contact with Saldaña’s office on behalf of McAllister, who fled Belfast with his wife and then four children in 1988, this after loyalists attacked his Belfast home, firing 26 bullets into the living room.
Over the twenty years that he has lived in the United States McAllister, who lost his wife Bernadette to cancer in 2004, has pleaded for asylum on two occasions and both times was denied.
However, support from leading political figures, not least Senator Bob Menendez in New Jersey, has resulted in McAllister being able to remain in the U.S. on a year-to-year basis.
Speaking on the Flannelly show, Rep. Crowley, a Democrat whose district spans Queens and the Bronx, said that he was of the view that if evidence that has since surfaced – in a report on loyalist violence and security forces collusion compiled by Sir Desmond De Silva – was now presented on McAllister’s behalf, he would be deemed eligible for political asylum.
McAllister has been ordered to present himself at the Department of Homeland Security offices in Newark on Monday, April 25 for a process known as “surrender for removal.”
He has been instructed to bring “a small travel bag.”
CAPITOL HILL. Wednesday, April 13, 2016—Coca Cola, the massive soft-drinks company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, is facing an upcoming fair employment Resolution regarding its operations in Israel-Palestine. Coca Cola’s annual shareholders’ meeting is in Atlanta on April 27, where the company will be faced with a Resolution on the Holy Land Principles: a corporate code of conduct for American companies doing business in Palestine-Israel— based on the highly effective Mac Bride Principles for Northern Ireland. The Holy Land Principles are pro-Jewish, pro-Palestinian and pro-company. The Principles do not call for quotas, reverse discrimination, divestment, disinvestment or boycotts. The Principles do not take any position on solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian issue. The Principles do not try to tell the Palestinians or the Israelis what to do. The Holy Land Principles only try to get Coca Cola and the other companies to sign the Holy Land Principles. Last year, three American companies — Corning, GE and Intel— tried to get the SEC (Securities Exchange Commission) to exclude the Holy Land Principles resolution from their 2015 Proxy Materials. However, the SEC ruled in favor of the Holy Land Principles. The SEC is a federal agency of the United States Government. One of the SEC’s main responsibilities is to protect investors. And the fact that the SEC has ruled in favor of the Holy Land Principles is proof positive that the Holy Land Principles are intrinsically valid, eminently reasonable and inherently fair. Fr. Sean Mc Manus—President of the Washington-based Holy Land Principles and Irish National Caucus — said : “ Coca Cola in its ‘Statement Against Shareowner Proposal Regarding Holy Land Principles, ’ rather lamely argues that ‘Endorsing these principles for one geographic area could risk undermining the universality of our own Human Rights Policy. We believe our policies work best when they can be applied throughout our entire enterprise.’ Well with all due respect, I think that’s a bit like responding to the urgent call ‘Black Lives Matter’ by saying all lives matter. People see through that dodge, that evasion, that dissembling.” Fr. Mc Manus explained: “American companies doing business in Northern Ireland initially tried such evasive tactics, including Coca Cola. But eventually they saw the light. Eventually 116 companies signed the Mac Bride Principles— including, to its credit, Coca Cola. So why would Coca Cola, or any American company now balk at signing the Holy Land Principles? Fr. Mc Manus continued: “Isn’t it truly remarkable that until we launched the Holy Land Principles, on International Human Rights Day, December 10, 2012, this issue had never been raised before in the corporate boardrooms. Surely, something was very odd about that? How can it be explained, given the fact that SRI groups and faith-based organizations were filing Resolutions by the boat-load on every conceivable issue? This surely was the elephant in the (board) room! One cannot ask American companies doing business in the Holy Land a more important or existential question than one about their fair employment practices. Therefore, the Holy Land Principles are filling a vacuum that was crying out to be filled—indeed, playing a prophetic role. That is why our campaign — like our Mac Bride Principles campaign — will prevail in the end because there is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come. We respectfully ask all Coca Cola investors to vote for the Holy Land Principles resolution.” Fr. Sean Mc Manus President Holy Land Principles,Inc.
The Second Annual AOH Division 21 Horseshoe Tournament
Location:
Breezy Point Fire House/Main Ball Field
Each team will be a 2 Person team – come with a friend or be
teamed up.
$30 per person
Includes Tournament, Unlimited
BBQ and Beverages.
Sponsor a Box! Only $75 for a Box Sponsorship.
Below is an urgent message from Brother Dan Dennehy (AOH National Immigration Committee) on behalf of AOH Brother Malachy McAllister. Brother Malachy is a fine upstanding family man of impeccable integrity. I had the great honor of having his daughter as a student when I was teaching in Rutherford, New Jersey. These consistent attempts to deport him back to Northern Ireland and separate him from his children in the United States needs to stop. Please take a few minutes to read this message and to call your Congressman or Congresswoman to support this initiative to stop this injustice from taking place.
In Friendship, Unity, & Christian Charity,
Greg Sean Canning
Florida State Secretary
National Director
FFAI Co-Chairman
Brother & Sister Hibernians and All Friends of the Irish Peace Process and Unity, Malachy McAllister, a Brother from New Jersey Mercer County AOH Division 1, having fled his birthplace with his young family, based on proven death threats from Loyalist Death Squads, now faces imminent deportation on April 25, as we remember the 100th Anniversary of Ireland’s Republic. Malachy McAllister, here for the past 19 years, is raising his young family, is a productive businessman and employer and is acknowledged by many as a key promoter of the Irish Peace Process. US Congressman Joe Crowley has composed the attached Letter to Jeh Johnson, US Secretary of Homeland Security and Sarah Saldaña, Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director and is asking for our members to contact their US House Representative to sign onto his letter. 1) PLEASE call your member of the House of Representatives TODAY. The number for the House Congressional Switchboard is (202) 225-3121. 2) Give your zip code when requested and ask to speak to your Congressman’s Office. 3) When directed to that Office, ask to speak to the Legislation Officer or Immigration Liaison your Representative. 4) If they aren’t available, ask to leave a message stating: “I would like to hear from the Congressman, the Chief of Staff or the Representative’s Immigration person as soon as possible. Ask then for an email address in order to forward Congressman Crowley’s letter.
If they are available, tell them that (a) You support Congressman Joe Crowley’s request that ICE exercise its discretion (as it has done previously) by taking quick action to suspend the deportation order against Mr. McAllister as he is no threat to this country. (b) Ask your Congressman to contact Congressman Crowley and sign onto this letter!”
If your Representative indicates to you their support for Comprehensive Immigration Reform, THANK THEM!If your Representative indicates opposition, ask them to reconsider that position and thank them for their time.
Please call or email me immediately after you have made contact, so that we may follow up on your efforts
Brothers, this issue is now crucial and requires immediate action on the part of every Hibernian. I will be happy to provide you with any supporting information that you require. Thanks in advance for all your efforts. Yours In Our Motto, Dan Dennehy
McAllister Talking Points
(1) Imminent deportation – Order issued on 3/25/2016 to report for deportation on 4/25/2016, so urgent action is required(2) Has been granted Deferred Action Status by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) since 2006, indicating that there are no national security or public safety concerns that would warrant Mr. McAllister’s deportation and that DHS has found compelling factors in his case for exercising its discretion to allow him to remain in the United States.Case history:(3) Mr McAllister wife and three children granted asylum by Immigration Judge Henry Dogin in 2000 based on severe persecution suffered in Northern Ireland, including an attack on the family home in Belfast in which Loyalist gunmen fired 26 shots into the house while the McAllister children were inside. The grant of political asylum was appealed by the Board of Immigration Appeals twenty nine days later and taken from his wife and children.Mr. McAllister was denied asylum due to conviction in Northern Ireland in 1983 for participating in armed resistance to British rule. His participation was in the context of the severe persecution he suffered at the hands of the British military and the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), the militarized police force of Northern Ireland, and of a political struggle against British rule in Ireland.(4) Mr. McAllister appealed his denial to the Board of Immigration Appeals, which upheld the decision in 2003.The case was appealed to the Third Circuit, which upheld the denial of asylum in 2006. Nicola and Sean McAllister were also placed in deportation proceedings but now have temporary status under the ‘Dream Act’An Adjustment of Status application has been filed for Mr. McAllister based on an approved I-130 petition for immigrant status on behalf of Mr. McAllister filed by his U.S. citizen son, Gary McAllister. In order for this application to be considered, DHS must join a motion requesting the Board of Immigration Appeals to reopen the removal proceedings and remand the case to the Immigration Judge for consideration of the Adjustment of Status.(5) Substantial new evidence has come to light since the Third Circuit decision, confirming British government involvement in the attack on Mr. McAllister’s home.The Sir Desmond De Silva report on the investigation into the murder of lawyer Pat Finucane, issued in 2012, contains evidence on a number of other individuals who were targeted by loyalists in collusion with government forces, including Mr. McAllister (identified as “T/12” in the report).(6) Investigations in Northern Ireland into the attack on the McAllister house are ongoing.Mr. McAllister was just informed that his case is the subject of a active criminal investigation by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).He also has a pending complaint before the Historical Investigations Unit (HIU, formerly the Historical Enquires Team). These investigations could create a dangerous situation for Mr. McAllister if he was returned to Northern Ireland, and the continual reminders of the attack would create added psychological trauma.(7) Since the Third Circuit decision, Congress has passed legislation, the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) of 2008, allowing for a waiver of the “terrorist activity” grounds of inadmissibility that render Mr. McAllister removable from the United States.Under the law, the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA), with which Mr. McAllister was involved, is not considered a “terrorist” group.It is notable that the group that targeted him, the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), is on the State Department’s Terrorist Watch List (a Tier II group under the CAA), indicating that they are still considered a danger.(8) Third Circuit Judge Maryanne Trump-Barry, in a concurring opinion, expressed regret that the law did not provide them with an avenue for Mr. McAllister to remain in the United States. This discretionary waiver could provide such an avenue for relief. At the very least, it expresses a policy change recognizing that the “terrorism” exclusion laws should not be absolute.(9) There are numerous positive factors that weigh in favor of allowing Mr. McAllister to remain in the United States.Essentially, he is a model resident of this country:Mr. McAllister has a four-year-old U.S. citizen son, as well as a 39 years old U.S. citizen son, and 5 U.S. citizen. grandchildren.He has not been arrested or convicted of any crime since arriving in the U.S., and his conviction in Northern Ireland was over 30 years ago.He owns two businesses and employs at least 14 U.S. workers.He has numerous community ties and strong support from Irish American organizations.He has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder caused by the persecution he suffered in Belfast.Humanitarian considerations and U.S. immigration policy warrant strong consideration of psychological trauma.
