Beware RUC intelligence gathering
``The RUC is using traffic legislation illegally to gather
intelligence,'' according to Derry Sinn Fein councillor Peter
Anderson.
derson called on nationalists to be on their guard against this
RUC intelligence gathering and advised people to, ``find out under
what legislation they are being questioned and to give only their
name, address, and the general direction they are travelling in
and where they are going. No other information is required.'' He
told people who had been subjected to any RUC interrogation,
harassment, intimidation or assault to ``immediately contact a
solicitor or local representative, and that Sinn Fein has
incident sheets that will be forwarded to the British
government.''
A married couple who were with Lurgan republican Colin Duffy
last Monday when he was assaulted by the RUC and who were
themselves severely beaten, were arrested in the early hours of
Thursday 20 November and cautioned.
ne and Vincent Hamill, who are related to Portadown Catholic
Robert Hamill who was beaten to death by a loyalist mob in May,
had voluntarily gone to Lurgan RUC barracks to give witness
statements, but after waiting four and a half hours were told
their statements were not needed. They were later arrested.
The couple must now wait to see if the DPP will charge them with
the same GBH offence laid against Duffy.
In Belfast, the sister of a Sinn Féin advice centre worker from
Ardoyne was humiliated by the RUC on Thursday 20 November when
she was stopped on the corner of Etna Drive and Brompton park at
9.30am as she travelled to work. The woman was subjected to a
full body search in front of passers-by and the contents of her
bag were examined. A sealed letter was opened and read.
A similar incident occurred on 12 November when the 20 year old
son of a Coalisland Sinn Fein advice centre worker was followed,
stopped and searched by the RUC.
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