Irish Freedom Committee NewsList - September 2002

IRISH FREEDOM COMMITTEE® NEWSLIST
www.irishfreedomcommittee.net
-----------------------------

Subject: EMERGENCY APPEAL – Aidan Hulme surgery
Date: 09 28 02

The Irish Freedom Committee condemns in the sharpest terms the blatant
extortion tactics of the British Government, who have refused to provide
emergency medical treatment to a remand Irish prisoner without a massive
cash payment by his family.

The British government claims that £4000 (US $6,250.00) is required from
the family to transport Aidan Hulme to hospital. This demand was laid
on the family at the 11th hour of a promised bail, which had been
obtained in court 16 days prior. The bailed release for the surgery
came with a court-imposed gag order to support groups including the
Irish Freedom Committee, who were ordered not to publicize the upcoming
release or it would be revoked.

The Irish Freedom Committee honored that order, as did many other support groups in
Ireland and England. However, there was never any release planned, and
the ‘gag order’ was merely part of an elaborate hoax by the British
Government. At the very last moment, hours before Aidan Hulme’s
promised release, the family was contacted and told to pay £9,000.00
cash sterling or there would be no medical treatment to their son. That
amount has since been ‘modified’ to £4,000.

The British government has had no problem extraditing Aidan Hulme from
his home in Belfast to a British court, and into a British jail, without
requiring funds from his family; and has likewise had no problem
extraditing Irish men and women to its courts from the Occupied North,
Slovakia, the United States, and many other parts of the world-- all
without asking the families to pay for transportation.

The British government has set a new precedent in inhumanity by now
seeking to extort cash sums from Irish families in order to secure
medical treatment for their loved ones in prison.

While the Irish Freedom Committee utterly condemns these reprehensible
Mafioso tactics by the British government, we cannot sit idly by and
allow this young man to lose his leg. Every day the situation worsens
for this young man.

The Hulme family has asked Irish Freedom Committee for our urgent help
to guarantee their son’s release to hospital as soon as possible.

We are seeking any donation you can send to the Hulme family, large or
small.

If you can help this family, please contact us AS SOON AS POSSIBLE at
the email address below.

Go raibh maith agat;

- IFC POW DEPT.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please forward inquiries to the Hulme family here: deemail@msn.com

***PLEASE DON’T DELAY – HELP IS NEEDED URGENTLY***.

--- Please forward this e-mail widely ------

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Irish Freedom Committee®
www.irishfreedomcommittee.net
************************************************
For more information on Aidan Hulme’s critical condition please go to
www.irishfreedomcommittee.net, click on “POWs” on top menu bar or type
in “Aidan Hulme” at green search box.

************************************************

Please make this situation widely known – go to the Irish Freedom
Committee website for more information on the emergency situation for
Aidan Hulme:
http://members.freespeech.org/irishpows/bb3/aidan_hulme_emails.htm

************************************************
The Irish Freedom Committee website now has contact information for
Irish and British Consulates in the US, major US media (Newspapers,
radio and TV), US Government offices, and International Human Rights
organizations.

Go to IFC Action Links at:
http://members.freespeech.org/irishpows/bb3/act.htm
For more information.

************************************************

© The Irish Freedom Committee® NewsList - IFC Updates

IRISH FREEDOM COMMITTEE® NEWSLIST
www.irishfreedomcommittee.net
-----------------------------
DISPATCH FROM THE IFC POW DEPT.

Subject: £9,000 Demanded for Aidan Hulme Release
Date: 09 20 02

In a gesture of utter contempt, Belmarsh Prison authorities informed the family and solicitors for Aidan Hulme late yesterday that £9,000 (US$12,000) must be paid to secure his release for emergency surgery.

This news came on the 11th hour of Aidan's previously-brokered bail, secured by a London Queen’s Counsel on Wednesday September 4th, which was scheduled to take place today September 20th. The bail came with a court-imposed gag order to support groups who were warned that if news of it were published, the release would not go through.

The Irish Freedom Committee sees this 11th-hour decision not only as a vile attempt at extortion but a direct gesture to groups like the Irish Freedom Committee and several prisoners' rights groups in Britain and Ireland. The gag order was honored by both of these organizations and at the 11th hour the prison authorities directed their next volley at Aidan’s lawyers and the Hulme family, in the form of a blatant attempt to extort a large sum of money to “purchase” his release.

Belmarsh authorities were on an email blitz yesterday to Irish Freedom Committee supporters across the United States claiming that Aidan had not lodged a medical complaint, and stating that prison doctors would treat him at Belmarsh. Aidan has not only lodged many complaints since being sent to Belmarsh, but has been visited in prison by a prominent orthopedic surgeon who has offered to perform the surgery to save his leg at a London hospital. This surgeon visited Aidan in prison following a July decision by Belmarsh’s doctors that the leg injury was too far gone and that they would amputate.

It is clear by all counts that Belmarsh prison authorities have deliberately manipulated events in order to secure their original decision to amputate Aidan’s leg, as the family cannot possibly meet this ransom demand in the short time left. The prison authorities knew full well throughout the past 16 days that they would not go through with Aidan’s release. They knew this as they sent a flood of emails yesterday to Irish Freedom Committee supporters here in the United States, and to prisoner support groups in Ireland and England. This deliberate mental and physical torture of an Irish political prisoner must now be exposed world-wide. We are recommending today that you forward this email to your local media, and will be asking that Irish and British Consulates be petitioned. Details and contact information for US media and British and Irish Consulates are to follow as well as any further news as we receive it.

The Irish Freedom Committee gratefully acknowledges the prisoners' rights groups in Britain and Ireland for their invaluable assistance throughout this
ordeal.

PLEASE FORWARD THIS EMAIL WIDELY.

- IFC POW DEPT.

The Irish Freedom Committee®
www.irishfreedomcommittee.net
************************************************
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON CRISIS SITUATION FOR IRISH PRISONER AIDAN HULME
PLEASE GO TO:
www.irishfreedomcommittee.net - type in “Aidan Hulme” at green search
box or click on “POWs” at top menu bar.

************************************************
Breaking correspondence from London prisoners' rights organization:
09 20 02

“We agreed ....that we would not go public at that time re Aidan's
bail - we took them at their word - little did we know they were
planning to undermine the bail agreement at first opportunity. They
actually waited until it was TOO LATE for anyone to contest (in court)
what they were doing - and for others to maybe arrange to raise the
necessary money in time.

It was very carefully planned and executed.”

PLEASE FORWARD THIS E-MAIL WIDELY

************************************************
© The Irish Freedom Committee® NewsList - IFC Updates

IRISH FREEDOM COMMITTEE® NEWSLIST
www.irishfreedomcommittee.net
-----------------------------

Subject: 'Bloody Sunday' the Movie – New York, Chicago screenings
Date: 09 16 02

The Irish Freedom Committee would like to remind our subscribers in the
Chicago and Midwest areas that the film “Bloody Sunday” will open in the
Midwest at the upcoming Chicago Film Festival, which runs October 4-18.
Date and time for the film screening will be announced here shortly.
The Irish Freedom Committee will also host an informal discussion event
following the Chicago showing – watch here for further details.

Please forward news of these screenings widely.

Also reprinted below:
“Families Weep Over Bloody Sunday Film” - PA News, January 06 2002

The Irish Freedom Committee®
www.irishfreedomcommittee.net
************************************************

(Memo from Don Mullan, “Bloody Sunday” co-producer, and editor of
“Eyewitness Bloody Sunday”. For book info see IFC website link
following news stories below.)
--------------------------

'Bloody Sunday' the Movie

Dear Friends,

This is a general email to everyone on my mailing list. I'd be
grateful if you would read this email and then send it to everyone
on your own mailing list with a request that they do likewise and
so on. I am hoping that from my PC in Dublin the word will go out
to hundreds of thousands of people worldwide regarding the award
winning movie 'Bloody Sunday' which is about to open in the United
States and Canada and many other countries around the world.

'Bloody Sunday' is a critically acclaimed low budget movie with a
big impact. It truthfully recounts the events of Sunday, January
30, 1972, a traumatic afternoon for my community in Derry, when
British Paratroopers shot 27 people, 13 of whom died that day.

Since 1996 I have worked closely with the Bloody Sunday families as
part of their campaign for justice and truth. With their support,
I published 'Eyewitness Bloody Sunday' (Wolfhound Press 1997) a
book which became an important catalyst in their campaign for the
establishment of a new Bloody Sunday Inquiry.

The book was also the inspiration for two British filmmakers, Mark
Redhead and Paul Greengrass, to make the movie. They invited me to
be co-producer and, with the support and cooperation of the Bloody
Sunday families and wounded, we set about making the first full
length feature film, simply called 'Bloody Sunday'.

By Hollywood standards our budget was small ($4.3 million).
However, despite the low budget our cast involved over 10,000
people. In Derry, upwards of 7,000 people volunteered in freezing
cold and wet weather in February 2001 to help us recreate the
original march for the purpose of the film.

When the film was shown to the Bloody Sunday families and wounded
in Derry earlier this year, it was, at its conclusion, given a
standing ovation. For the filmmakers, it was both a humbling and
encouraging endorsement. Since then, the film has astounded us by
the impact it has made and the awards it has received worldwide.
In Italy, for example, the demand was such that four copies of the
film soon spiraled to over 60 showing across the nation, netting
over $1 million in box office sales! To date, the film has won six
international awards (Australia, Croatia, Germany, Israel, Portugal
and the USA) including 'Best Picture Awards' at the prestigious
'Sundance Film Festival 2002' and the 'Berlin Film Festival 2002'.
It has now been selected for the New York Film Festival from which
it will begin a tour of the United States, Canada and other
worldwide territories, promoted by Paramount Classics.

Eventually 'Bloody Sunday' will be available in North America and
elsewhere on video and DVD. However, it was made primarily as a
theatrical piece and, as such, its full impact can best be
experienced in that medium. Together with the families who lost
loved ones on that day, we are hopeful that the film will be
supported initially in New York and in other cities and towns
throughout North America. I am writing especially to encourage as
many people as possible in the New York area to come and see the
movie. Paramount Classics have predicted that if New York in
particular leads, the rest of the country will follow. So, we
appeal to those in the New York area, and the east coast in
general, to come and see it and encourage your families, relatives,
friends and associates to see it also.

I genuinely believe that 'Bloody Sunday' is one of the most
important films to be made about the 'Troubles' in the last 30
years. It contextualises the destruction of the non-violent Civil
Rights Movement and the accendency of the armed struggle. One
critic described our movie as "a pain-filled masterpiece". What is
most important is that it was made by Irish and British people
together. Those participating included families of the victims,
the wounded, eyewitnesses to the massacre in 1972 and former
British soldiers who had served in Northern Ireland. The making of
the film was, in reality, a mini peace process. It has a very
authentic feel about it. Everyone on its production worked with
integrity to tell the truth about the horror and consequences of
that terrible day.

With the Bloody Sunday families support, I was co-producer of the
movie, consultant and march organiser. I worked alongside English
director, Paul Greengrass and English Producer, Mark Redhead, two
of the most honourable people I have ever encountered in my
professional career. The movie was a co-production between Granda
Films and Jim Sheridan's 'Hell's Kitchen'.

The movie has been critically acclaimed throughout the world. For
example, the following is a quote from Peter Traver's review in the
September 2002 edition of 'Rolling Stone' magazine:

"Look for Paul Greengrass' volcanic re-creation of the massacre in
Northern Ireland on January 30th, 1972 - immortalized in the song
by U2 - to take on the giants in the race for best picture of 2002.
The film is also a triumph for actor James Nesbitt, who plays
civil-rights leader Ivan Cooper with an intensity of feeling that
will leave you shaken. And to think this stunner of a film cost
less ($4.3 million) than it takes to keep Harry Potter in wands."

Travers went on to predict: "Bloody Sunday star James Nesbitt may
be the actor of the year."

The movie will open at the New York Film Festival on 2nd October at
the Lincoln Center.

Below is a Paramount Classics link which gives more details about
the movie including access to a trailer:

http://www.paramountclassics.com/bloodysunday/

Just a couple of days after Bloody Sunday the bereaved families had
to endure another wound when, through their New York Consulate, the
Government of Prime Minister Edward Heath disseminated lies to the
world media about the dead and wounded, suggesting that many were
gunmen, bombers. They also alleged some were on the Army's wanted
list. At the time the families did not understand the power of the
first sound bite. However, their epic struggle for justice has
reached historic proportions and they are an inspiration to people
around the world who are fighting against powerful forces for Human
Rights and Justice. This movie is dedicated by Paul Greengrass,
Mark Redhead and myself to the Bloody Sunday families and all who
seek Truth, Justice and accountability for Human Rights abuses
throughout the world.

Please forward this message to everyone on your email list with a
request that they to forward to everyone on theirs. Most
importantly, please come to see this remarkable movie and encourage
your families, relatives, friends and associates to see it also.
Remember, 'Bloody Sunday' opens in New York on October 2 and
thereafter, will be in all the major US cities during October and
November 2002.

I would be grateful if everyone who does forward this email would
include the following email address so that I can tract the success
of this letter appeal:

bloodysundayfilm2002@yahoo.com

With thanks for your kindness and consideration,

Yours Sincerely,

Don Mullan.

************************************************

Families Weep Over Bloody Sunday Film

PA 01/06/02 12:02

Copyright 2002 PA News

By Gary Kelly, PA News

Families of the victims of Bloody Sunday sobbed after witnessing
a powerful dramatisation of the horrific events of that day.

Around 450 relatives of the 13 men shot dead by members of the
Parachute Regiment on January 30 1972, attended a special preview
screening of the film Bloody Sunday.

Trauma counsellors were on hand to provide emotional support to
those most deeply affected by the starkly realistic depiction of
one of the most controversial events of the Troubles.

Liam Wray, whose 22-year-old brother Jim was shot dead on that
fateful day, said it was a stunning critique of a nightmare that
affected so many people.

"It was a very potent piece of film. It encompasses the reality
of Bloody Sunday, the naivety, the despair and the tragic
brutality.

"I think it will affect people deeply," he said.

In one of the most chilling scenes of the film, Jim Wray is seen
being finished off by a soldier as he lies semi-paralysed on the
ground.

The filmmakers said this scene was based on three sworn
testimonies given to the Saville Inquiry, currently investigating
the events of Bloody Sunday.

"I hope that this will bring home the brutality and inhumanity
of that day," added Mr Wray.

The film stars James Nesbitt as Ivan Cooper, the head of the
Civil Rights movement and the city's MP at the time of the tragedy.

Written and directed by Paul Greengrass - who directed the Bafta
award-winning The Murder of Stephen Lawrence - it follows the lives
of a number of key individuals leading up to the civil rights march
and the tumultuous events that followed.

Nesbitt, an Ulster Protestant from the nearby town of Coleraine,
was just six-years-old on Bloody Sunday.

Clearly emotional after speaking privately to relatives after
the screening, the actor said he had been extremely moved by the
film and the audience reaction.

"These people have lived with it for 30 years. I only lived with
it for a year," he said.

He said the project was one of the most important of his acting
career.

"One of the most extraordinary things about this process was
that I got to know them all.

"I'm in a sense part of their family. If it was tough for me,
it's a damn sight tougher for them."

The Cold Feet star was struck by the parallels between himself
and the character he played.

"Here was a middle class Protestant called Ivan Cooper, co-
founder of the civil rights movement and an MP with a Catholic
electorate.

"This clearly wasn't a sectarian people. Life imitated art 30
years later when a middle class Protestant actor swans into town
and they embraced me and helped me."

Mr Cooper said watching the film was even more traumatic than he
had anticipated.

"If it was difficult for me, I can't imagine how difficult it
was for the families."

He said that looking at the film objectively, he could see how
it had led to another 30 years of violence and shattered
relationships.

The film, which will be premiered at the prestigious Sundance
Festival in Utah on January 15, will be shown on ITV five days
later. It will then go on general release in February.

"I would hope that people in Britain will take a close look at
this film and realise that these people marching for civil rights
weren't for the IRA or communism," said Mr Cooper.

"The IRA was a small organisation. Bloody Sunday was like
throwing petrol on a massive fire and many people in Northern
Ireland lost their lives because of that."

Mr Cooper too saw parallels between himself and James Nesbitt.

"I was happy he was chosen to play the part. I come from a
Protestant part of Co Derry and it was very difficult for me. I was
branded a traitor.

"I think Jimmy had had to leave behind many of the shibboleths
of his tradition and he has done a very fine job. Emotionally, he
caught the moment."

After the relatives were given a preview, the film was shown to
the citizens of the town. The 1,000 tickets were snapped up within
hours of becoming available.

Later tonight there will be a special gala screening for
politicians, church leaders and stars.

Among those attending will be Sinn Fein MP Martin McGuinness,
the IRA's second in command on the day of the shootings.

Mr McGuinness is due to testify before the Bloody Sunday inquiry
later this month.

John Hume, former leader of the SDLP and co-founder of the civil
rights movement is also attending, as is Bishop Edward Daly who as
a young priest provided one of the most powerful images of that day
when he waved a bloody handkerchief as a man lay dying beside him.
************************************************
For more links to Bloody Sunday history please go to www.irishfreedomcommittee.net and type in “Bloody Sunday” at the green Search Box.

For more information about Don Mullan’s book “Eyewitness Bloody Sunday” please go to:
http://members.freespeech.org/irishpows/bb3/january_2002.htm#Bloody%20Sunday%20-%20Thirty%20Years%20Ago%20Today

************************************************
© The Irish Freedom Committee® NewsList - IFC Updates

IRISH FREEDOM COMMITTEE® NEWSLIST
www.irishfreedomcommittee.net
-----------------------------

Subject: Derry lawyer sent ‘proof’ of Omagh warning – Derry News
Date: 09 13 02

A lawyer representing Lawrence Rush has received an astonishing tape of
a telephone call between a London newspaper reporter and a senior member
of British government, in which Britain’s foreknowledge of the Omagh
bomb is discussed.

Lawrence Rush is suing the RUC Chief Constable and the British Secretary
of State for “negligence, misfeasance in public office and breach of
statutory duty” leading to the death of his wife Libby in the explosion.

Should this tape prove to be genuine it will provide yet more proof that
the RUC and British government knew when and where the bombing was to
take place, and allowed it to go forward after confining area British
troops to barracks for the day and restricting RUC presence in the town
to 3 officers on the street. No member of the British security forces
was injured or killed in the explosion, and eyewitnesses have reported
that civilians were herded directly into the bomb’s location while
officers stood some distance away.

Further questions must also be asked on the role of paid informant David
Rupert in his direct involvement in the atrocity. It has recently been
revealed that he scouted the area and suggested Omagh as a target. It
has also been suggested that Rupert has met privately with family
members involved in a civil lawsuit against 5 Irish men being accused of
the bombing.

See these links below the Derry News story:

· OMAGH COVER-UP – text and video link to Lawrence Rush challenge at RUC
press conference, August 2001

· IFC NewsList: “Omagh Widower Sues British State”

The Irish Freedom Committee®
www.irishfreedomcommittee.net
************************************************
Report-“Stormont-Watch” – www.voy.com/70381/

Derry news – front page story – Thurs. 12-09-02
By Paddy Mc Guffin

Derry lawyer sent ‘proof’ of Omagh warning

A tape, which – if authentic – could confirm that the RUC were
forewarned about the Omagh bombing, has been sent to a Derry solicitor,
the Derry News can disclose today.

Des Doherty, who represents Laurence Rush – whose wife Libby died in the
atrocity, received the tape in an envelope post-marked “London”.

On it, two men – one apparently a journalist with a British national
paper, the other believed to be a senior Tory figure –are on the phone
discussing the role of Special Branch agent ‘Kevin Fulton’.

The call, it appears, has been arranged by a man with a Derry accent,
who speaks to the reporter before putting the ‘politician' onto the
line.

The journalist then plays a tape of Fulton speaking to his Special
Branch handler, which was recorded in July of last year.

In this tape, Fulton puts it to the RUC Special Branch man – who is
named – that he passed him a warning about the Omagh bombing prior to
the attack, and asks him if this information was entered “into the
system”.

Evidence

The RUC officer, whose name the Derry News has decided not to publish,
refuses to be drawn by Fulton.

But later, when the Fulton tape has concluded, the politician tells the
journalist that the officer concerned had previously confirmed to him
that he had passed on the warning.

And the journalist states that he also has independent corroboration
that the Branch officer had both received and passed on the information
from Fulton.

The Derry News is the first news agency to hear the tape – which has now
been submitted to the Police Ombudsman’s Nuala O’Loan, who has been
investigating the RUC’s handling of Omagh.

Tape could probe RUC were warned

Kevin Fulton’s voice on the tape has been verified by Laurence Rush, who
had previously spoken to the agent about the bombing.

Mr. Rush is currently suing the RUC Chief Constable and the N. Ireland
Secretary of State John Reid for “negligence, malfeasance and breach of
statutory duty”.

Speaking to the Derry News after having heard the tape, Mr. Rush stated:
“This tape now confirms to me that, at the very least, the RUC were
aware that an attack of some sort was due to take place. Fulton even
provided the name and the details of the persons involved.”

Solicitor Des Doherty said: “When Fulton made his position public he was
ridiculed and demonized by the RUC.

“It is clear from listening to this tape that he is no Walter Mitty type
figure – nor did the RUC treat him as such – and that his warnings were
genuine.”
************************************************
OMAGH COVER-UP - Video link
http://members.freespeech.org/irishpows/bb3/omagh_cover-up.htm

IFC NewsList: “Omagh Widower Sues British State” --
http://members.freespeech.org/irishpows/bb3/august_2002.htm#Omagh%20Widower%20Sues%20British%20State

(copy and paste code into your browser if direct link is not available)
************************************************

© The Irish Freedom Committee® NewsList - IFC Updates

IRISH FREEDOM COMMITTEE® NEWSLIST
www.irishfreedomcommittee.net
-----------------------------

Subject: POW Solidarity Event
Date: 09 03 02

The Irish Political Status Committee will host an evening social in
London on Saturday, September 14th, on behalf of Irish political
prisoners held in British jails. An announcement regarding the social
and an upcoming picket follows.

A link to photos from a December picket by the IPSC is also provided
below.

For more information on the good works of the IPSC please go to:
Human Rights On-Line
http://humanrightsonline.net/ipsc.html

The Irish Freedom Committee extends best wishes to the Irish Political
Status Committee for a successful evening, and we salute their
continuing efforts on behalf of Irish political prisoners in Britain and
Ireland’s jails.

The Irish Freedom Committee®
www.irishfreedomcommittee.net
************************************************

Restore Political Status For Irish Republican POW s !
Repatriate Irish POW s To Ireland Now !
Defend Irish Citizens Incarcerated in Belmarsh Prison Hell-Hole !

Picket Irish Embassy !
Saturday 14th September 2002 @ 3 P.M.
17 Grosvenor Place - London SW1X 7HR
Hyde Park Corner Tube

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Restore Political Status For Irish Republican POW s !

Irish Rebel / International Resistance Social Evening
· Rebel Music With Bryan Dolan and Pat Kelly
· Performance From The Vol. Joe O`Connor Republican Flute Band
· Performance From Revolutionary Music Group From Turkey and Childrens
Folk Dance Group
· Raffle With Prisoners Handcrafts
· Bookstalls
· Food Available
· Bar

Saturday 14th September 2002 From 7p.m. £ 3 Entry

Venue: 'One Hundred Flowers' Cultural centre, 2A, Belgrade Road, Off
Stoke Newington Road, London, N16 ( Short Distance From Dalston /
Kingsland BR Station )

Buses: 149, 76, 67, 243

Called By: Irish Political Status Committee and Supported by The World
Peoples Resistance Movement - Britain.

For Details and Publicity material: IPSC, BM BOX 1981, LONDON, WCIN -
3XX. E-Mail: statusnow@yahoo.co.uk

Web Address : http://humanrightsonline.net/ipsc.html

************************************************
PHOTOS –

Irish Political Status Committee Protest at Free State Embassy, London
in support of Republican POWs at Portlaoise -- December 2001

http://members.freespeech.org/irishpows/bb3/protests_at_london_free_state_em.htm

************************************************
For more information on Irish Political Prisoners and how YOU can help,
go to:
www.irishfreedomcommittee.net - click on “POWs” on the top menu bar.

************************************************
© The Irish Freedom Committee® NewsList - IFC Updates

IRISH FREEDOM COMMITTEE® NEWSLIST
www.irishfreedomcommittee.net
-----------------------------
DISPATCH FROM THE IFC POW DEPT.

Subject: Aidan Hulme Bail Application – How YOU can Help
Date: 09 03 02

A London QC (“Queen's Counsel” or senior barrister) will make a bail
application tomorrow on behalf of Irish prisoner Aidan Hulme, requesting
that he be granted immediate compassionate bail for emergency surgery to
repair massive gangrene on his leg. The gangrene has worsened greatly
in recent weeks as prison doctors at Belmarsh have virtually ignored
Aidan’s injuries, and a recent prison examination ruled that amputation
would be necessary without immediate surgical care.

The Irish Freedom Committee is asking all of our National Members and
World-wide Supporters to please make your voice heard TODAY, in advance
of this bail application tomorrow.

The response from our Members and Supporters has thus far been
overwhelming. We have received countless emails from people around the
world and across the US detailing individual efforts taken on behalf of
this young Irishman. However, we must KEEP THE PRESSURE ON.

EACH AND EVERY e-mail, letter and telephone call DOES make a difference!
You are telling the British Government that you are watching, and that
this torture of a young Irish prisoner is NOT acceptable.

HERE’S HOW YOU CAN HELP IN THREE MINUTES - IN ONE E-MAIL!

Concerned Americans and all others around the world can send one email,
one time, to all of these offices:

-British Home Secretary David Blunkett
-Belmarsh Prison Governor Hazel Banks
-British Prison Service Headquarters
-British Directorate of Prison Medical Services

FOLLOW THESE 5 EASY STEPS: NEW!!! Or click HERE for instant emails direct from the IFC website

1. Open a new message in your email program.

2. Copy and paste both of these addresses in your “TO” box:
mailto:public.enquiries@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk;
mailto:prisons.dg@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk

3.Copy and paste to the “SUBJECT” box:
Urgent appeal on behalf of Irish prisoner Aidan Hulme
(or use your own wording)

4. Copy and paste the following to the BODY of the message, or use your
own words (Please include all offices to receive the message at top):

--------------

ATTN:

Home Secretary David Blunkett MP
Home Office
50, Queen Ann's Gate
London.WC1
SW1H 9AT
England

Governor Hazel Banks
HMP Belmarsh
Western Way
Thamesmead
London
SE28 OEB.

The Secretariat
HM Prison Service Headquarters
Cleland House
Page Street
London, SW1P 4LN

Directorate of Prison Medical Services
Home Office
Cleland House
Page Street
London
SW1P 4LN

I am writing to express my deep concerns regarding the health and safety
of Irish prisoner Aidan Hulme. I understand he is in need of emergency
surgery to save a badly injured leg. I am also aware that a London
hospital has offered to perform emergency surgery, but Aidan must first
be granted a short compassionate release for the operation.

I am appealing to you as a concerned American that you please
immediately release this young man to the doctors who have offered to
perform the surgery and are standing by. Don’t let the eyes of the world
watch as this young man’s condition is allowed to deteriorate further by
an uncaring system.

I await your actions on this urgent matter.

Yours very sincerely;

_______________________________
(YOUR NAME/ADDRESS HERE)

---------------

5.After adding your name and town/country of residence to your letter,
Hit SEND.

YOU CAN HELP MAKE A DIFFERENCE! Your opinion is very important, please
don’t delay! Please let the British Government and Belmarsh Prison know
that YOU are watching, and this abuse of a young Irish prisoner is NOT
acceptable.

Thank you for your continued support.

- IFC POW DEPT.

The Irish Freedom Committee®
www.irishfreedomcommittee.net
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For more information on the Belmarsh Prison medical neglect of Irish
prisoner Aidan Hulme please go to:

The Irish Freedom Committee
http://www.irishfreedomcommittee.net/

IFC POW DEPT – ACTION REQUESTS – AIDAN HULME
http://members.freespeech.org/irishpows/bb3/action_request.htm -
Aidan%20Hulme

IFC NewsList 08 13 02 – URGENT HELP NEEDED – AIDAN HULME
http://members.freespeech.org/irishpows/bb3/august_2002.htm -
URGENT%20HELP%20NEEDED–%20Aidan%20Hulme

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© The Irish Freedom Committee® NewsList - IFC Updates

IRISH FREEDOM COMMITTEE® NEWSLIST
www.irishfreedomcommittee.net
-----------------------------

Subject: Nice Treaty Vote Recall a Sham
Date: 09 02 02

Pressure from the Dublin government and larger states in the European
Union is forcing a second vote from the Irish people on the Nice Treaty,
to be held before December 2002.

The previous referendum, backed by a well-financed “Yes” camp, resulted
in a surprise refusal by the Irish people to ratify it. The Dublin
government has in recent weeks applied renewed pressure on the Irish
people to reconsider their vote, and will shortly be issuing a slick
14-page booklet to 1.4 million Irish households touting the pros of the
new Treaty. Significantly, the Ahern government recently rushed a new
law through the Dail, holding that previously-held requirements for
unbiased canvassing on referendum issues, which assured equal treatment
of both “Yes” and “No” arguments, would no longer be required by law.

Ireland is the only European nation to have held a national vote on this
issue – and the only to ask for a second vote, when the results of the
first were not what the government had in mind. There is strong
indication that other nations which have signed on to the Nice Treaty
would have rejected it, had the voice of the people been consulted.

For more information on the pros and cons of the Nice Treaty, as well as
‘basic’ and ‘detailed’ arguments regarding its ratification, please go
to the “No to Nice” website developed by Trinity College Professor
Anthony Coughlan and Justin Barrett at : www.no2nice.org.
(Note you will need Flash player to view site – text version not
currently available).

The commentary below by Eoghan O’Suilleabhain of the Irish Freedom
Committee, regarding the new effort to have the Irish people change
their collective minds, appears this week in the Blanket at
http://lark.phoblacht.net/oldest.html.

Also linked below:
· Nice Treaty – Full Text
· “Sunday Bloody Sunday – Bono Betrays Ireland” – Counterpunch article

The Irish Freedom Committee®
www.irishfreedomcommittee.net
************************************************
The Blanket
August 30, 2002
The Oldest Profession

Eoghan O’Suilleabhain

During The Middle Ages, tens of thousands of people all across Europe
were wiped out by the bubonic plague. Included in The Black Death toll
were thousands of craftsmen whose decrease in population increased the
labour value of the surviving craftsmen engendering powerful Medieval
Guilds capable of negotiating far better monetary arrangements for their
living members thus serving as a precursor of sorts for today’s Labour
Unions.

The above paragraph is standard Chapter One reading in just about any
Labour Economics or History textbook for the sole pedagogic purpose of
driving home the irrefutable point about how wages or prices are
determined by the market forces of supply and demand. That is, if demand
for any goods or services exceeds their supply, then prices or wages
will rise. Likewise, if the supply of any goods or services exceeds
demand for same, then prices or wages will fall. The current Dublin
housing market is a good real world example of this long tried and
tested economic axiom: too few houses and apartments (i.e. supply) for
the population that wants and needs to be served (i.e. demand) means
prices and rents for same will rise as they have.

This is one of the major reasons why multi-national business
corporations push for the making and enlarging of free trade zones. It
gives them greater access to an ever larger supply of cheaper labour as
the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) did for US companies in
Mexico and as the Treaty of Nice will do for the EU in Eastern Europe.
Not surprisingly, much of the usual corporate sponsored politicians,
academics and media pundits in the US denied this reality for the
benefit of their pro-NAFTA business johns. It is like the oldest
profession: politicians, professors and the press, like prostitutes,
will say and do things for money that they would not otherwise say and
do for free.

Enter Exhibit A: Dick Roche, current Irish Minister of State for
European Affairs. Prior to that appointment he was the Minister of State
at the Department of Taoiseach where he once upon a time was asked his
views about the second running of the Treaty of Nice and he responded as
follows: “It would be an affront to democracy.”

Now comfortably ensconced in his new position like a high priced call
girl for European Affairs he lashes out today at the No to Nice camp
with his very own guest editorial entitled “No Camp argument suffers
fundamental flaws” (The Sunday Business Post, August 18, 2002, at page
n24). In it Roche attacks Justin Barrett of the No to Nice campaign and
Professor Anthony Coughlan of the National Platform for putting forward
false assertions about Ireland’s position on the free movement of
workers such as making “…baseless allegations about jobs and wage
levels.”

Specifically, Roche claims: “Coughlan’s assertion that the influx of
foreign workers will drive down wages in Ireland, because wages are
determined in his words ‘by the law of supply and demand’ is nonsense.
Even his own political allies have discredited the claim.” (emphasis
added).

Notice big Dick didn’t say “his own economic allies” because that would
have to include the entire Economics profession, or at least those
Economists who aren’t in any way sponsored by Multi-National Corporate
johns. And think about just how much money Big Business would have to
pay an Economist anywhere to publicly mutter “Voila! Wages are not
determined by the law of supply and demand.” For any Economist to say or
write this would be professional suicide. They could never for instance
work again as expert witnesses in legal cases because the cross
examination of their proffered expert credentials would always go
something like so:

Attorney: “So Professor Twatsky, you say you’ve been a
Professional Economist for the last 20 years, numerous
publications, research and teaching assignments, all well
and good, but tell me Sir, did you ever write or say that
wages in free market economies are not determined by the
law of supply and demand?”

Economist: “Yes.”

Attorney: “Oh, then what pray tell does determine wages or prices in
a free market economy if not the free market forces of
supply and demand?”

Economist: “Hominahominah.”

With all due respect to the late Jackie Gleason, but what else could
such a compromised Economist say? Except for prostitution, politics &
free market media punditry, once you sell your soul like that, you’re
pretty much finished in most other professions. You become a laughing
stock because you can no longer be credible in your allegations or
assertions about reality, economic or otherwise. But pundits and
politicians, like prostitutes, aren’t here on this Earth to describe
reality for the rest of us. As The Baffler Magazine Editor Thomas Frank
points out about the so called New Economy theory (capitalist ideologue)
pundits who seem impervious to the usual consequences of error:
“…generating an accurate picture of economic life really wasn’t their
main function.” (The Guardian Weekend, August 17, 2002, at page 23)
(Emphasis added).

Political propagandising was! Since: “Their trade was politics…New
Economic theory was less an objective assessment of our situation than a
world class hustle by a political movement that believed it was very
close to winning the game. --- In such circumstances… objective
wrongness doesn’t matter. Propaganda does. Money walks while bullshit
just talks and talks and talks.” (Ibid, at page 24) (Emphasis added).

Although Thomas Frank was analysing political pundits in service to
corporate power, the same analysis works when studying the behaviour and
sayings of politicians in service to the same corporate powers. How else
do you explain Dick Roche’s utter nonsense that wages aren’t determined
by supply and demand? If only 1% of the 75 million or so people in the
EU applicant states of Eastern Europe decided to come to Ireland
(legally or illegally), that would mean finding housing, jobs or some
kind of subsistence (dole or criminal) for 75,000 new people. If 2%
came, then for 150,000 new people. And if 3% came, well, do the math.

Now you know why Fianna Fail Foreign Minister Brian Cowen waived
Ireland’s right to restrict immigration from the 75 million citizens of
candidate countries for a period of up to seven years. Cheaper labour
moving west will depress existing wage structures here just as surely as
dying craftsmen during The Middle Ages increased it. And the only way
around this reality is to deny it like a liar for hire. No wonder IBEC
supports enlargement and such things as “flexible labour markets” (i.e.
weakened labour unions or none at all).

Cowen and Roche are both just manifestations of the same law of
political gravity that says law follows politics and politics follows
economics. They know who brought them and it wasn’t we. Hence their
second referendum on the Treaty of Nice and all of our need to say no to
it once again since it is imperative for the future of Ireland and other
small nations. We simply cannot let their hustle win this game!

So please, if you feel the same way, contact among others the NO TO NICE
CAMPAIGN at 60a Capel Street, Dublin 1. Telephone: (01) 874 - 6858. Fax:
(01) 873 - 0464. Web: www.no2nice.org & Email: info@no2nice.org.

And fight the power!

************************************************
Nice Treaty - Full Text: http://www.nicetreatyonline.com/

************************************************
“Sunday Bloody Sunday – Bono Betrays Ireland”
Counterpunch
Sunday August 11, 2002
Andrew Cockburn

************************************************
© The Irish Freedom Committee® NewsList - IFC Updates

IRISH FREEDOM COMMITTEE® NEWSLIST
www.irishfreedomcommittee.net
-----------------------------

Subject: Further Blows to MI5 Agent Rupert's Testimony
Date: 09 01 02

MI5 ran agent David Rupert in the Republic of Ireland without authorization, and are now in the uncomfortable position of revealing in court that they used him despite knowledge of his extensive criminal background. E-mails between Rupert and MI5 also clearly indicate his established role as agent provocateur; “feeding” crimes to potential victims.

This unauthorized use of a foreign agent in the Irish Republic, paid for by British handlers and briefed to entrap Irish citizens into crimes of Britain’s own creation, will call into serious question any “testimony” Rupert has been paid millions to provide next Spring at the McKevitt trial.

Most interestingly, the trial will also reveal that more weapons plots have resulted from MI5 schemes than anything the republican movement has been accused of undertaking in the past ten years.

The Irish Freedom Committee®
www.irishfreedomcommittee.net
************************************************

Sunday Business Post
09 01 02

North's MI5 man in bizarre chemical weapons plot

By Barry O'Kelly, Crime Correspondent
Dublin, Ireland, 01 September, 2002

While local gardai were allegedly plotting bogus explosives deals, MI5's man in Donegal went one step further in the dirty tricks stakes, importing real arms from America.

Bizarre as it sounds, in the 1990s, Donegal, with its strong republican tradition, probably saw more arms plots allegedly undertaken by the security forces, than the Provisional IRA or the Continuity IRA (CIRA).

As four gardai were allegedly organising bogus arms finds in 1994 (according to witnesses at the Morris Tribunal), American-born MI5 informant David Rupert was already preparing the ground for a more sinister project to infiltrate the CIRA -- apparently at any cost.

Rupert, a four-times bankrupt recruited by the security services in 1993, outlined the extraordinary plans in correspondence to MI5, unknown to the Garda at the time.

The four gardai now facing a probe by the Morris Tribunal were also unaware of the MI5 scheme.

The correspondence, seen by The Sunday Business Post, reveals how Rupert smuggled arms into Ireland in 1997 for the CIRA, then thought to be the most active republican group after the Provisional IRA had declared a ceasefire earlier that year.

The documents also reveal that the MI5 informant tried to encourage the breakaway group down that most extremist of roads, to the procurement of biological weapons. The apparent reasoning behind these operations was to allow Rupert to ingratiate himself with the CIRA leadership.

CIRA sources claim they had no interest in the chemical weapons plan, which was not acted upon, although Rupert states in the documents that they were "interested".

In one e-mail, sent by Rupert to his MI5 handler in 1998, he wrote:

"I had outlined the weapons deals briefly in the US. I talked about the computer deal and then the big one, biologicals. I said I understand they are quite easy to get in the US as a laboratory experiment type deal. They were interested."

Rupert referred to the chemicals weapons plan in later e-mails, clearly indicating that MI5 was allowing him a free hand as an agent provocateur. In later e-mails to MI5, Rupert apparently referred to the smuggling of American arms into the Republic via Belfast.

One e-mail, seen by this newspaper, states: "If somebody did catch the suitcase, ultimately it would end up on your officers’ lap. If they seized them, so what? It's DJ [a senior Garda called Dermot Jennings] I wanted to avoid."

Rupert also spoke in the e-mails about getting SKS assault rifles from an associate in the US National Guard.

The British security agency had no clearance to run Rupert as an informant in the Irish Republic and specifically told him to steer clear of the gardai at the time.

An MI5 intelligence document, dated October 2000 and headed David Rupert: Human Intelligence Source, warns: "No authorisation in ROI [Republic of Ireland]."

The document notes that it could be damaging for British-Irish relations if it were revealed that the agency was operating Rupert as an agent from a base inside the Republic without authorisation.

Rupert (51) is now on the Witness Protection Programme in America, waiting to give evidence in the trial of Michael McKevitt, the alleged leader of the Real IRA.

McKevitt, of Beech Park, Blackrock, Dundalk, is expected to be tried in the Special Criminal Court early next year on charges of directing
terrorism.

The Sunday Business Post understands there is a rift in relations between MI5 and the Garda over the way the case has been processed.

It is believed that the full details of Rupert's criminal background and role as an agent provocateur only emerged after the British handed him over as a witness to the Irish authorities in late 2000. He joined the Witness Protection Programme last year shortly before McKevitt was charged.

Rupert has sought $3.25 million from MI5 and the FBI in return for testifying against up to seven dissident republicans.

On foot of his demands, the intelligence agencies have satisfied Rupert with an unspecified deal, under which he will be remunerated when he testifies against Michael McKevitt.

Further details about his unauthorised activities with MI5 in Donegal are expected to be aired during the trial. The defence may seek to place his activities in the context of British collusion in the Dublin and Monaghan bombings in 1974.

The trial is also expected to be embarrassing for the British security agency because it was running an agent inside the Irish Republic for highly dubious operations and without permission from any authority.

In one e-mail in April 1998, Rupert assured his handlers: "I will make all attempts to steer clear of the garda. Trust me on this."

During this time, the MI5 agent, using material supplied by the British, bugged the phone of a republican county councillor in Co Donegal. Rupert was living at the time in Bundoran and was spying primarily for MI5 on the activities of the CIRA.

His e-mails during this period reveal that Rupert had suggested to the CIRA that Omagh might be a suitable target for a bomb attack.

While the informant apparently had no personal involvement, the CIRA is believed to have played a significant role in the bombing four months later in Omagh, which claimed 29 lives.

In a message in April 1998 to his handler in London, officer N, Rupert said he had driven the scout car for an abortive car bomb run, the target of which was either Derry or Omagh. He was accompanied on the run by the then chief of staff of the CIRA.

"This [operation] yesterday was a military operation and I was part of it," he said. When the Omagh atrocity happened on August 28, 1998, Rupert recalled ruefully in an e-mail that he had in fact "mentioned" Omagh to the CIRA as a possible target for a bomb attack.

Rupert described it as a 70 per cent CIRA, 30 per cent Real IRA operation, and he requested that he be flown back to America within hours of the bombing.

The informant specifically asked that he should not be interviewed by the Garda at the time.

His MI5 handler readily agreed and organised for him to travel to Belfast from where he was flown to London for an urgent debriefing 48 hours after the Omagh bombing.

************************************************

Sunday Business Post
09 01 02

MI5 spy in North enquired about biological weapons

By Barry O'Kelly, Crime Correspondent
Dublin, Ireland, 31 August, 2002

MI5 agent David Rupert tried to get the Continuity IRA (CIRA) to procure biological weapons, The Sunday Business Post has learned.

The breakaway republican group eventually declined Rupert’s overtures, but the informant is believed to have succeeded in smuggling arms from the United States into Ireland, with the full knowledge of MI5, in 1997.

The American was operating as an agent for the British security service from a base in Donegal without authorisation from the Irish government. The Garda was also not informed.

This newspaper has seen a series of e-mails which were sent by Rupert to his MI5 handlers in which he outlined his extraordinary efforts to inveigle himself into the CIRA hierarchy between 1993 and 1998.

"I had outlined the weapons deals briefly in the US," Rupert wrote in one e-mail sent to his MI5 handler in 1998. "I talked about the computer deal and then the big one, biologicals. I said I understand they are quite easy to get in the US as a laboratory experiment type deal. They were interested."

The 51-year-old Rupert is now on the Witness Protection Programme in the United States waiting to give evidence in the trial of Michael McKevitt, the alleged leader of the Real IRA.

McKevitt is expected to go on trial early next year in the Special Criminal Court on charges of directing terrorism.

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Sunday Business Post

Gardai funded drugs found in Donegal premises, inquiry told

Frank Connolly
Dublin , Ireland, February 4 2001

A Donegal businesswoman has told the Carty Inquiry that she was given £400 by members of the Garda to buy illegal drugs and told to plant them in a building whose owner was subsequently prosecuted.

The woman has told members of the Carty team, which is investigating
alleged Garda corruption in the north west division, that she was told
by an officer to buy the drugs at a specific location eight years ago.
She has claimed that she returned with the drugs to a garda squad car
and gave them over to the officer who was accompanied by two other
members of the force.

She has claimed that the gardai then divided up the drugs into smaller
packs or `deals' which she was then told to plant in the target
building.

The woman has also made a detailed statement concerning her role in the
staged manufacture and transport of ground up fertiliser of the type
used in IRA bombs and which was left at various locations in Donegal
some years ago. The "hoax bombs" are also being probed by the inquiry.
Members of the corruption inquiry team, which is headed by assistant
commissioner, Kevin Carty, have passed on details of her extraordinary
claims in a report to the DPP.

The Carty team has been making a very careful assessment of the claims
made by the woman, The Sunday Business Post has learned.
Another woman has provided documents to the Carty team which may also
shed some light on the prosecution of the drugs case.
A diary, copy extracts from which have been seen by The Sunday Business
Post, and allegedly prepared by a member of the Garda, uses the words
"set up" in connection with the matter.

The revelations from the two witnesses could seriously undermine the
basis for the conviction obtained in the drugs case.

The Carty Inquiry is the most widespread probe mounted in the history of
the force. It was triggered by a series of allegations made in unrelated
matters by the Donegal publican Frank McBrearty and members of his
family about their alleged treatment at the hands of the force.

The inquiry has been conducted over a period of months in Donegal,
Dublin and elsewhere, amid conflicting reports as to whether or not
charges will be brought as a result of its findings.

Fine Gael TD Jim Higgins has said that in the Dail this week he will
repeat his call on the Minister for Justice, John O'Donoghue, to
establish an independent public inquiry into garda corruption in
Donegal.

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