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TonyGosling
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 Posted: Sun Jun 24, 2012 12:44 am Post subject: Confession? British army waterboarding Catholics in 1972 |
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40-year-old conviction quashed
Thursday, 21 June 2012
The last man to be handed the death sentence in Northern Ireland has had his conviction for murder quashed.
Liam Holden, 58, was sentenced to hang for the killing of a British soldier in 1972. He said he was water tortured, hooded and had a gun put to his head by soldiers to extract a confession.
The Court of Appeal in Belfast made the ruling on Thursday.
Outside court Mr Holden said: "I am delighted after 40 years that the conviction has been quashed, I am just sorry the parents are not alive to witness it."
The appeal was held against his conviction for the murder of Private Frank Bell, 18, who was shot dead on foot patrol in Springfield Avenue in West Belfast on September 17, 1972.
Mr Holden was found guilty on the basis of a confession that he maintains was made under duress after being subjected to waterboarding. The widowed father-of-two said he was also taken to another part of Belfast and a gun was put to his head, at which point he agreed to sign the confession.
Mr Holden's sentence had been commuted to life in prison by then Northern Ireland Secretary William Whitelaw. He served 17 years behind bars before being released on licence in 1989.
On Thursday he said: "What the soldiers did to me ... water torture, hooding, putting the gun to my head, no one will ever get a real feeling of what it is like, it is like a slow drowning sensation.
He said of the ruling: "I am not going to go do somersaults down the streets because it is 40 years on and I am an awful lot older." He added: "I am delighted that it is over and I will melt back into the background and get on with it."
He said other people went through similar ordeals, adding he hoped the publicity would help bring those matters, including the Army's use of water torture, into the public domain.
Read more: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland /40yearold-conviction-quashed-16175463.html
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Last edited by TonyGosling on Sun Jul 08, 2012 9:12 am; edited 2 times in total |
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TonyGosling
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Joined: 25 Jul 2005
Posts: 18335
Location: St. Pauls, Bristol, England
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| Posted: Sun Jun 24, 2012 12:54 am Post subject: |
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Anything to do with this announcement after the BBC Radio 5 live interview with Liam Holden on the same day I wonder?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-18552221
| Quote: | A man from Belfast who was sentenced to death and served 17 years in prison has had his conviction for murdering a soldier quashed. Yesterday, judges overturned a verdict that Liam Holden was guilty of killing a British soldier 40 years ago because he was interrogated by the military for more than three hours. In doing this the military was in breach of clear government guidelines that suspects arrested by soldiers should be handed over immediately to the Royal Ulster Constabulary for questioning. Mr Holden alleges that while he was held by the military he was subjected to water torture, beaten and threatened with death in order to force a confession from him. He was due to hang for the shooting of paratrooper Private Frank Bell in west Belfast in September 1972, but later had his death sentence commuted to life imprisonment.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01jypg8
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Liam Holden: the last man to be handed a death sentence in the UK clears name, 40 years on
Paul Peachey - Thursday 21 June 2012
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/liam-holden-the-last-man-to -be-handed-a-death-sentence-in-the-uk-clears-name-40-years-on-7873228. html
The last man handed the death sentence in the United Kingdom had his conviction for murdering a British paratrooper quashed today after telling a court he confessed at gunpoint after being subjected to waterboarding.
Liam Holden, now aged 58, was convicted and sentenced to hang for the murder of Private Frank Bell, an 18-year-old who had been a member of the regiment for just six weeks when he was shot in the head on patrol in West Belfast 40 years ago.
Mr Holden says he confessed under duress after being held by members of the Parachute Regiment for nearly six hours who subjected him to water torture, hooded him and had a gun put to his head.
His death sentence was commuted to life in prison by then Northern Ireland Secretary William Whitelaw and he served 17 years behind bars before being released on licence in 1989. The death penalty for murder was abolished in Northern Ireland in 1973, four years after the rest of the UK.
Mr Holden, a 19-year-old chef at the time of his arrest, said he was grateful that the decision was a quashing of a conviction rather than a posthumous pardon. “I am delighted after 40 years that the conviction has been quashed, I am just sorry the parents are not alive to witness it,” he said.
He claimed that he was pinned to the floor by six men, a thick towel was held over his face and soldiers started pouring water on it. “What the soldiers did to me...water torture, hooding, putting the gun to my head, no one will ever get a real feeling of what it is like, it is like a slow drowning sensation.”
The technique was honed and used later by the CIA during the waterboarding of al-Qa’ida suspects. The US administration of George W Bush claimed that it did not amount to torture.
The Criminal Cases Review Commission referred the case to the court of appeal in Ireland in 2009 because of concerns about the reliability of his confession. Detailed reasons for the referral were included in an annex to the report which was not given to Mr Holden or his defence team. No paratrooper has been publicly named as being involved. Mr Holden’s defence team are now seeking access to the papers.
Patrick Corrigan, Northern Ireland programme director of Amnesty International, said: “Torture is a crime under domestic and international law and we must now see action from the UK authorities to investigate and hold to account those alleged to have carried out and authorised the use of waterboarding and other forms of torture in Northern Ireland.”
_________________
www.lawyerscommitteefor9-11inquiry.org
www.rethink911.org
www.patriotsquestion911.com
www.actorsandartistsfor911truth.org
www.mediafor911truth.org
www.pilotsfor911truth.org
www.mp911truth.org
www.ae911truth.org
www.rl911truth.org
www.stj911.org
www.v911t.org
www.thisweek.org.uk
www.abolishwar.org.uk
www.elementary.org.uk
www.radio4all.net/index.php/contributor/2149
http://utangente.free.fr/2003/media2003.pdf
"The maintenance of secrets acts like a psychic poison which alienates the possessor from the community" Carl Jung
https://37.220.108.147/members/www.bilderberg.org/phpBB2/ |
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Disco_Destroyer
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Joined: 05 Sep 2006
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| Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2012 9:46 am Post subject: |
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Given our sordid nations history what would surprise you?
Amazing how our education system works no? 
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