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  • Sinn Fein Leader Gerry Adams Released From Police Custody With No Charges

    The Northern Island police has released Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams after being in their custody for 4 days.

    Last week, Adams agreed to turn himself in for questioning. The authorities questioned Adams about his alleged involvement in the 1972 abduction and killing of Jean McConville, a widow with 10 children suspected of being a British spy.

    Adams has long been involved with the IRA (Irish Republican Army). Today, he is the leader of Ireland’s second-biggest opposition party, Sinn Fein.

    Prior to Adams’ release Sinn Fein supporters gathered in protest

    After his release from police custody, Adams stated, “Let me be very clear: I am innocent of any involvement in any conspiracy to abduct, kill, or bury Mrs. McConville.” Adams came out escorted from the back entrance of the building to avoid protesters who were waiting outside.

    Adams was questioned, as there were allegations of his involvement in McConville’s case that came up from recorded messages left by IRA veterans who agreed to speak only if the recordings were to be released upon their death.

    According to testimonies on the tapes, Adams was the mastermind behind McConville’s abduction and killing. McConville’s body was found in 2003, and the police did not have any leads until the testimonies from the tapes were released.

    Adams also said that the only way to go is forward. He admits that he is an activist and he understands that he has detractors that will do anything to bring down Sinn Fein. Amidst all of these, he said that he holds no grudge against anyone.

    “My resolve remains as strong as ever, that is to build the peace, not to let this put us off, it’s our future, the past is the past,” Adams said in a news conference.

    When asked about how his stay in prison was, Adams said that it was okay. He also said the food they served him was inedible and that the facility where he was detained did not live up to modern standards.

    Image via YouTube

  • Sinn Fein Leader Gerry Adams Arrested For IRA’s 1972 Slaying Of A Widow

    Irish republican and Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams was arrested and interrogated on Wednesday for being a suspect in the killing of Jean McConville, a widowed mother of 10, in 1972. Adams confirmed his arrest and called it voluntary and pre-arranged.

    The murder happened during a turbulent time for Ireland, when the IRA (Irish Republican Army) was killing people almost daily.

    McConville was accused of being a British spy by the IRA, so they killed her and told her children that their mother had abandoned them. McConville’s body was then secretly buried, and the IRA only admitted to the crime in 1998. McConville’s shattered skeletal remains were found near a shoreline in 2003.

    When Adams was taken in, he was interrogated about IRA activities, such as shootings that happened in the 70s and 80s, bombings, and the car-bomb offensive in Belfast. Adams insisted that he has never had a position in the underground army, and said that he has only been convicted for a single IRA offense, which was a failed escape when he was imprisoned without going to trial.

    Before he entered the Belfast police station, Adams gave television interviews saying “Well publicized, malicious allegations have been made against me. I reject these.” He also said that he will never disassociate himself from the IRA but he is “innocent of any part in the abduction, killing, or burial of Mrs. McConville.”

    According to Ed Moloney, one of Ireland’s leading reporters,  it is unlikely that the authorities will charge him unless he confesses to committing the crime.

    The authorities who are in charge of McConville’s case have been arresting suspects based on taped interviews. These tapes, obtained from Boston College, consist of interrogations of IRA veterans. The only condition the IRA veterans had was that the tapes only be revealed when they are dead.

    In one of the tapes, Adams’ confidante Brendan Hughes, admitted that the one who ordered the killing of McConville was “the head of Sinn Féin.” Hughes died in 2008.

    Gerry Adams Interview

    Image via YouTube