Protest for justice for the Brown family

A protest is taking place this (Thursday) morning at Belfast High Court where the London government is seeking to appeal a coroner’s ruling that it must order a public inquiry into the collusion killing of Gaelic sports official Sean Brown.

Mr Brown’s 87-year-old widow Bridie will be present at the 9.45am demo to continue her tireless campaign for truth and justice in the murder of her husband, who was a prominent figure in the south Derry nationalist community.

Britain has been found to be in breach of human rights obligations to investigate the full extent of its collusion in the May 1997 murder.

Mr Brown’s family has called for the sinister reasoning behind his brutal killing to be “outed”.

Among other chilling details, it emerged during an inquest hearing into his death last year that several British state agents have been linked to the murder, and that one suspect in the killing was a serving member of the British Army.

Last year a high court judge Patrick Kinney, who was sitting as a coroner, abandoned the Brown inquest and wrote to then British Direct Ruler Chris Heaton-Harris to ask for a public inquiry. Last month a second high court judge also concluded there needs to be an inquest after a legal challenge by Bridie Brown.

His daughter, Siobhan Brown, said that, after 27 years of delay, the current British Direct Ruler Hilary Benn “is doing everything in his power” to prevent the public inquiry going forward.

“And it’s another step that we now have to face,” she said.

“But we are not going to give up and we are continuing to fight this as long as it takes.

“Because at the end of the day something very sinister is there and it needs to be out as to why my father was murdered.”

Lawyer Niall Murphy, of KRW Law, said the family considered the appeal to be “vexatious and without merit”.

“The family reiterate that two High Court judges have directed a public inquiry, that the Chief Constable supports a public inquiry, as does the Taoiseach Micheál Martin, and it is time for the Secretary of State to reflect upon the legal and political reality of the position, and to abide by the direction of the High Court.”

SDLP leader Claire Hanna recently spoke with the family and will attend the court on Thursday.

“Given the established scale of wrongdoing, there must be a full public inquiry to establish exactly what happened to Sean Brown, why it was allowed and why there are continued efforts to suppress that truth,” she said.

Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald offered her support to the Brown family in a meeting this week. She said she had seen a 52-page intelligence file, given to their legal team, where every word, on every page was completely blacked out and redacted.

“The family rightly demand to know why and by whom was their husband and father murdered. They emphasised that only a public inquiry can reveal the truth about Sean Brown’s abduction and murder, and I personally stand with the family in this regard, as does Sinn Féin.

“Uniquely, two High Court judges, Coroner Mr Justice Kinney and Mr Justice Michael Humphreys have both directed the Secretary of State to convene a statutory public inquiry, as the only mechanism to discharge the state’s legal obligations under Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

“With the Court of Appeal hearing the full case on Thursday, I call on the British government to stop the delay and cover-up. Give the Brown family the answers they deserve and establish a statutory public inquiry which is the only mechanism capable of exposing the truth.”

Urgent Appeal