Tyrone harassment getting worse
The last two weeks have seen persistent harassment and attempted
recruitment of nationalists in County Tyrone. Sinn Fein's Francie
Molloy said that most of the activity was concentrated around
Dungannon and Coalisland and that a single mother and the nephew
of Rose Anne Mallon, shot dead by loyalists in 1994, were among
those targeted.
The RUC asked the single mother to supply information on local
people after she was taken to Dungannon RUC barracks and
questioned about a minor offence. The RUC gave her a contact name
and phone number and told her things could be easier at Christmas
if she helped. The woman refused and reported the incident to her
local Sinn Fein office.
In another incident, two Loughshore fishermen spotted undercover
members of the crown forces taking photos of their homes from
`dug-in' positions. Another young man who has been the target of
continued harassment was stopped in Anne Street in Dungannon and
photographed from an unmarked car while he was held for 30
minutes.
other man, whose aunt was murdered by loyalists, was twice
targeted by the RUC. In the first incident, last Thursday 30
October, he was stopped under new traffic legislation but then
the RUC tried to search his car under the EPA. Later the man was
followed out of Coalisland by an unmarked RUC vehicle and was
then stopped in the loyalist area of Tomnamore, where the RUC
insisted they would search his car. No reason was given for the
search but the man still agreed to the search provided it to be
done at the barracks. He was then dragged from his car and
cautioned, accused of obstructing the search. In another
Coalisland incident two republicans were followed by an RUC man
known to them.
``The crown forces are clearly guilty of harassment,'' said Molloy,
``they are also clearly gathering information on people for no
reason. It is a worrying situation''.
![[An Phoblacht]](http://republican-news.org/graphics/title_gifs/aprn.gif)