Ulster Unionist Justice Spokesperson, Doug Beattie MC MLA, has described as ‘absolutely incredible’ the release in Germany of convicted IRA bomber James Corry, after serving just four days of his sentence.
Doug Beattie MLA said:
“To apply for an extradition, be successful and then have the individual stand trial and be found guilty and sentenced is a long, complicated and expensive process. That is why I congratulated the German authorities for pursuing the IRA bomber James Corry for his part in a 1996 mortar attack against a British military base in Germany. It was a clear attempt at murder which also endangered the lives of German citizens.
“I now find it absolutely incredible that having gone through that process, the German authorities have released Corry after just four days.
“The question that must be asked by the UK authorities is why? And the reason why a convicted terrorist who attempted to murder British citizens on German soil was released after four days, must also be made public in order to create some kind of confidence in a process that on the face of it seems to be deeply flawed. Are we now seeing the outworking of yet another On-The-Run (OTR) comfort letter? Has political pressure been placed on the German legal system to mitigate the sentence and reduce it due to a letter of comfort? Or have the German authorities given James Corry some kind of pardon, again due to the flawed OTR scheme?
“I hear the calls from many people - no less Sinn Fein - that the OTR letters of comfort are not an amnesty but if I accept that, they must accept that these letters have featured heavily in recent cases preventing or delaying justice. Firstly, we had the case of John Downey, where an OTR letter mistakenly given to him helped him walk from court instead of facing justice over the Hyde Park bombing. Next we had the case of the murder of Gareth O’Connor in 2003. The chief suspect in his murder was issued with an OTR letter 5 years after the murder, resulting in the inquest being stopped. Then we had the case of Kingsmill where two of the suspects have been issued with OTR letters.
“If we are to accept that OTR letters are not an amnesty then we need to see the outworking of charges against those who have received such letters. In the case of James Corry, we need to know why the German authorities released him after just four days; who lobbied for his release; was the UK government informed and if so when?
“Furthermore, did the Irish Government know that Corry would be released virtually immediately after he was sentenced and was that a deal which led them to agree to his original extradition to stand trial in Germany? If that was one of the caveats does that also mean had there not been a promise of release, would the Irish Government have refused to extradite Corry?
“These are fair and legitimate questions that must be answered if we are to have any kind of confidence in our justice system. The OTR system is flawed and the UK government must now instruct all legal bodies that it does not have any validity in UK law. They must also make representations to the European parliament to ensure the European courts know and accept that the OTR letter has no legal authority and they need to make it clear to those who hold an OTR letter that they cannot use it to escape justice within the judicial system.
“This side deal between Tony Blair and Sinn Fein is preventing justice following its natural path. It’s time it was taken off the table before we progress with the legacy consultation.”