On 24 September supporters of the framed Craigavon Two demonstrated in Dublin, London and in more than 30 locations worldwide. FRFI supporters joined the protest in London. One of the Craigavon Two, John Paul Wooton, made a phone call from Maghaberry prison to the Dublin protest, which was outside the Irish state broadcaster RTÉ. John Paul condemned the ‘conspiracy of silence’ by RTÉ and other corporate media outlets, accusing them of ‘consenting to the miscarriage of justice’ and ‘actively colluding’ in the wrongful imprisonment of the Craigavon Two.
Brendan McConville and John Paul Wooton were convicted of the killing of PSNI officer Stephen Carroll in March 2009. Following the killing there was a huge state and media outcry and, under pressure to make arrests, the PSNI manufactured and manipulated evidence. The result is that the Craigavon Two are likely to spend the rest of their lives in prison. They need our support.
The so-called evidence against Brendan and John Paul is unconvincing. The star prosecution witness, who claimed to have seen Brendan among a group of men close to the scene where Carroll was killed, has been described as a Walter Mitty character and it has been alleged that this same witness has also received payments from the tabloid press and members of the PSNI. No forensic evidence from either of the accused was found on the weapon used to kill PC Carroll.
A tracking device attached by MI5 to John Paul Wootton’s car placed him at the scene of the crime at the time of the killing; however, there were blank sections on the tracking device. These were explained to the court by an anonymous MI5 agent, who claimed that he had left the device on his desk and someone had moved and then replaced it without his knowledge. A brown coat, central to the prosecution case, had particles of gun powder residue on it, but these didn’t match the rifle or ammunition used in the killing of Constable Carroll.
In May 2015 the Supreme Court rejected an appeal application from the Craigavon Two. Their lawyers have now applied to the Criminal Case Review Committee for the case to be sent back to the Court of Appeal. Prominent barrister Michael Mansfield QC has made it public that he believes that the Craigavon Two are victims of a miscarriage of justice, as did the late Gerry Conlon of the Guildford Four.
On 10 August Brendan McConville was among a group of prisoners who were attacked by prison officers in Maghaberry and moved to solitary confinement. A statement from the Irish Republican Prisoners’ Welfare Association described a ‘co-ordinated physical attack’ which followed ‘months of harassment and intimidation against Republican Prisoners’.
There will be an Irish Republican Prisoners’ Support Group (IRPSG) public meeting in London on Saturday 8 October at 3pm calling for the Release of the Craigavon Two at the Calthorpe Arms, 252 Gray’s Inn Road, London WC1X 8JR. Speakers from Justice for the Craigavon Two campaign, Jengba, IRPSG and RCG.
Seamus O’Rourke
For more information see: https:/jftc2.com
Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! 253 October/November 2016
