Republican News · Thursday 4 July 2002

ti-drugs activist harassed by Garda

A former anti-drugs activist in Dublin is this week seeking legal advice following his alleged harassment by the Garda Special Branch over the past two years.

Pádraic Higgins of St Theresa's Gardens, Dublin 8, claims his flat, which he shares with parents, was upended on Friday 21 June when it was raided by Gardaí from Pearse Street Station under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act. When he sought information this week as to why the raid occurred, Higgins was told, he says, by Garda Mick Kelly in Pearse Street, that the information would not be released.

Involved in the anti-drugs movement and Sinn Féin for a number of years, Higgins has not been active in politics since the anti-drugs campaign began to peter out in the late '90s. Since then, he has been stopped by the force on a number of occasions and without explanation, he says.