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Gerry Adams Avoids Disappeared Charge

29 September 2015

By James

Gerry Adams, leader of the Northern Irish republican party Sinn Féin, will not face charges in relation to the 1972 murder of a Belfast widow and member of the Disappeared, Pamela Atchinson of the Public Prosecution Service has announced.

Jean McConville, 37, was abducted from her home, shot and buried secretly. No-one has ever been charged with her murder, although several former IRA members have been charged in relation to the crime. These include most recently Ivor Bell, 78, the IRA’s former chief of staff.

Mr Adams, 66, denies any connection to the murder, despite allegations that he served as an IRA officer and ordered the killing. In April last year, Mr Adams presented himself for questioning at Antrim police station, where he was arrested and questioned for four days before being released without charge. He later claimed that the arrest, which took place “three weeks into an election (campaign)” was politically motivated and deliberately timed.

Mr Adams will also not be charged with IRA membership.

 

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