Ulster Unionist Leader, Mike Nesbitt MLA, has expressed his frustration over the progress of the Michaela McAreavey murder trial in Mauritius.
The Strangford Assembly member has described today’s announcement that there will be a long delay in hearing Mr McAreavey’s evidence as shocking.
“There cannot be a single person in Northern Ireland whose heart does not go out to the McAreavey and Harte families at this time.
I have no doubt the last place John McAreavey wants to be is Mauritius. To be told there will be a full week’s delay in hearing his evidence is inhuman. I am afraid I have a little experience of what Mr McAreavey is going through. In 1999, I lost a good friend on a short holiday in Spain, and it took me ten years to return to where we lost him. It is hard to imagine how Mr McAreavey can find any comfort or relief on Mauritius.
“I also found the attitude of some of the authorities less than sympathetic, but that was as nothing to what Mr McAreavey is having to endure during this trial. I hope the government in Mauritius recognises the international focus on this trial from the millions who make up the diaspora of Northern Ireland and the Republic and that the treatment of Mr McAreavey will inevitably have a great impact on how they view the island.”