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21.06.2011 09:16 - 10 years later, still no peace for Veronica Guerin
Автор: drlubenova Категория: Други   
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imageПонеделник, 20 Юни 2011 12:43 |

imageVeronica Guerin"s brutal assassination in a Dublin street 10 years ago marked a turning point in Ireland"s battle against organised crime. Her death prompted an extraordinary wave of public anger and she became an icon in the battle against the drugs barons she had been investigating. Her story was even turned into a Hollywood film starring Cate Blanchett.

Now the suffering triggered by Guerin"s death is set to be rekindled. In the early hours of yesterday morning, Patrick "Dutchy" Holland, the convicted criminal who was once accused in court of being the man who fired the shots that killed the investigative journalist, walked out of Portlaoise Prison, only eight weeks before the 10th anniversary of the murder.

Holland was whisked to a luxury hotel where it is believed he will give a series of media interviews before being flown to Rome to take a lie detector test at the offices of his lawyer - an Italian who has acted for Saddam Hussein and Slobodan Milosevic - in a bid to clear his name.

The decision to release Holland was yesterday denounced by the Guerin family, who spoke of their bitterness at Holland"s release and their fear that the revolution against organised crime that Veronica"s murder ushered in could be snuffed out.

In the mid-1990s, Guerin was writing on crime for the Sunday Independent, and had established a powerful reputation for her investigations into senior members of the criminal underworld.
On 26 June 1996, she was shot dead in her car on the outskirts of Dublin by a passenger on a motorcycle. The murder prompted outrage in Ireland with the then Taoiseach, John Bruton, describing it as a "an attack on democracy". The ensuing investigation resulted in more than 150 arrests and a major hunt for Irish organised criminal gangs.

Holland - a member of the gang run by Dublin drugs baron John Gilligan, the convicted criminal whom Irish courts were told ordered the reporter"s assassination - was one of those arrested. At his trial in 1997, a Garda officer under oath said she believed Holland pulled the trigger that killed Guerin.
Holland was sentenced to nine years in jail for smuggling cannabis after his original 20-year sentence was reduced on appeal. Neither Gilligan nor Holland were ever charged with Guerin"s murder, however.
Another man, Brian Meehan, who allegedly drove the motorcycle used by the assassins when they gunned down Guerin, was later convicted of attempted murder and drugs and firearms offences. He was subsequently acquitted of killing Guerin. An accomplice, Paul Ward, is serving a life sentence for his part in the murder conspiracy: Ward was found guilty of providing the motorbike and disposing of it after the shooting.

"Today is a very sad day for us and a very bad day for Irish justice," the murdered journalist"s brother, Jimmy Guerin, told The Observer yesterday. "In eight weeks" time it will the 10th anniversary of Veronica"s murder. How do you think the Guerin family are feeling today?

"The danger here is that this guy has already become an iconic figure for younger criminals in Dublin"s underworld. He was a feared character while inside Portlaoise and now that he has walked free he will be looked up to as someone to emulate. The family are not surprised, but we are devastated."
Guerin said that during the trial the 66-year-old career criminal "never showed any emotion" when faced with the Guerin family. "I attended every day of the trial and each day Holland would turn to me and say "Good morning, Jimmy"." He said the family were "dreading" what Holland was going to say when he talks later this weekend in an exclusive television interview.

Holland"s lawyer, Giovanni de Stefano, insisted yesterday that his client had no involvement in Guerin"s murder; his legal team claims the lie-detector test will prove that.

A year before her death, the murdered reporter was shot in the leg outside her home. She also received repeated threats to her life and those of her family from the Gilligan gang in particular.
Jimmy Guerin said that the family were pleased that the RTE television had decided to drop Holland from a proposed appearance on its flagship programme The Late Late Show. Following representations from the family, RTE"s editorial board ruled late last week that Holland should not appear. He had wanted to use the programme to repeat his claim that he played no part in the murder.

On the wider battle against Ireland"s criminal gangs, Jimmy Guerin added: "We have lost this war and that"s realised by the government. All they can now do is contain, as opposed to smash, it. Why? Because the enthusiasm which was there and the resources which were made available after Veronica"s death were in an attempt to catch those responsible.

"But the authorities missed a real opportunity because in 1996-97, if they had continued to make those resources available and kept the pressure on, the gardai could have smashed organised crime in this country."

 





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Автор: drlubenova
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