A litany of Crown harassment of Republicans

Saoradh has condemned an increase in the harassment of young Republicans at the hands of the British Crown Forces as an “intimidation tactic” and an effort to “terrorise our youth”.

In a statement, it has described how a a group of young people attending a local football match were targeted, with one teenager subjected to a vicious assaulted because of their republican background.

“This physical and mental attack started under the guise of a stop and search which British Crown Forces quickly escalated to a brutal unprovoked attack,” they said,

The boy was taken to the local barracks, where he was “repeatedly attacked” before “inevitably” being released home to his parents “as there was no reason to have ever ... held this teenager,” they said.

Another young republican has become the focus of routine PNSI/RUC harassment for several months, with weekly and daily stop-and-search detentions.

After one recent vehicle search, he and some friends were then followed into a shopping centre where they were subjected to another another stop and search “with no apparent reason other than to intimidate young Irish Republicans,” Saoradh said.

“Following this stop and search the young Republicans continued with their shopping trip and then returned to their vehicle. Once they left the parking facility, they had yet again been pulled in by the Crown Forces for another aggressive search.”

Liam finished by saying “What’s happening to Republicans within our communities at the hands of the Crown Forces is a shear act of harassment and intimidation which is an attempt to cause trauma, pain and inconvenience.”

“Once again, Crown Force terrorists have demonstrated their alarming tendency to abuse the powers vested in them by Britain, this time under the guise of “national security.”

And in two other incidents, prominent Saoradh Republicans have been on the receiving end. Thomas Ashe Mellon was detained and interrogated at Waterside Barracks about a dormant bank account and a dormant post office account, information demanded by the British government under its so-called ‘terror register’.

And Paddy Gallagher was also held and searched for over half an hour in The Markets enclave in Belfast under the so-called Terrorism Act. Saoradh thanked those residents who came out to check on his safety.

“Recent stop and search incidents under the so called Terrorism Act have shone a light on how the Crown Forces continue to trample on civil liberties of Irish citizens,” they said.

“Too often, British legislation is wielded as a blunt instrument to harass, intimidate, surveil and lock up Republicans. This is policing against the community, in true occupying form.”

Urgent Appeal