9 April 1998 Edition
Editor's desk
Ken Maginnis led the UUP response to last week's damning UN report on RUC harassment of solicitors. Major Ken issued a statement which basically dismissed the report on the basis that its author, Malaysian lawyer Dato' Param Cumaraswamy, is facing a 25 million dollar fine in Malaysia for libel and slander.
What Ken forgot to say is that the Malaysian government - a dictatorship which, similar to the British government in the Six Counties, is in the firing line of all the international human rights agencies - is trying to silence and jail Cumaraswamy because he has reported on the corruption of the governement, the systematic human rights violations and the way the Malaysian government has crushed its people for so long.
The UN secretary general Koffi Annan has taken unprecedented steps to try to defend this lawyer and internationally renowned human rights defender.
Why am I not surprised that Ken would take the side of the oppressor?
Good to see that some government agencies in the 26 Counties are quick off the mark in pushing all Ireland harmonisation. An Post has revised its postal rates and produced a little booklet explaining the changes. In it Zone 1 is described as `Ireland (32 Counties)'.
The National Irish Bank is currently at the centre of a massive scandal as a result of its systematic overcharging of customers. In effect, they stole from customers' accounts. That hasn't prevented them placing a full page ad in the latest issue of Garda Review offering favourable terms to those great upholders of the law. It poses the questions, who is going to catch the bank robbers?
Granada TV's World in Action this week uncovered more links between loyalist death squads and Special Branch/British Intelligence. Charlie Sergeant, a leader of the British racist group, Combat 18, helped the UDA for four years in the early 1990s. He was also working for the Special Branch and was allowed to organise racist attacks in England in return for information. This was at the time when the UDA death squads were effectively being controlled by British Intelligence through their agent, Brian Nelson.
Top Orangeman and Deputy Mayor of Ards Council, David McNarry, has a fine grasp of political realities in the Six Counties. David called fellow Councillor Kieran McCarthy ``a little rebel'', ``a Sinn Féin/IRA frontman'', and ``a leprauchan''. He also invited him to ``step outside''. Kieran McCarthy is a councillor for the Alliance Party.
Good to see that the Irish Independent is beginning at last to turn away from its anti-republican, anti-nationalist, revisionist stance. It is offering for sale a commemorative collection of 1798 medallions (with, incidentally, an advert adorned with An Phoblacht's logo).
Of course this new-found enthusiasm for the ideals of 1798 may have a purely commercial basis. The gold collection of medallions are selling for a mere £3,200.
What Ken forgot to say is that the Malaysian government - a dictatorship which, similar to the British government in the Six Counties, is in the firing line of all the international human rights agencies - is trying to silence and jail Cumaraswamy because he has reported on the corruption of the governement, the systematic human rights violations and the way the Malaysian government has crushed its people for so long.
The UN secretary general Koffi Annan has taken unprecedented steps to try to defend this lawyer and internationally renowned human rights defender.
Why am I not surprised that Ken would take the side of the oppressor?
Good to see that some government agencies in the 26 Counties are quick off the mark in pushing all Ireland harmonisation. An Post has revised its postal rates and produced a little booklet explaining the changes. In it Zone 1 is described as `Ireland (32 Counties)'.
The National Irish Bank is currently at the centre of a massive scandal as a result of its systematic overcharging of customers. In effect, they stole from customers' accounts. That hasn't prevented them placing a full page ad in the latest issue of Garda Review offering favourable terms to those great upholders of the law. It poses the questions, who is going to catch the bank robbers?
Granada TV's World in Action this week uncovered more links between loyalist death squads and Special Branch/British Intelligence. Charlie Sergeant, a leader of the British racist group, Combat 18, helped the UDA for four years in the early 1990s. He was also working for the Special Branch and was allowed to organise racist attacks in England in return for information. This was at the time when the UDA death squads were effectively being controlled by British Intelligence through their agent, Brian Nelson.
Top Orangeman and Deputy Mayor of Ards Council, David McNarry, has a fine grasp of political realities in the Six Counties. David called fellow Councillor Kieran McCarthy ``a little rebel'', ``a Sinn Féin/IRA frontman'', and ``a leprauchan''. He also invited him to ``step outside''. Kieran McCarthy is a councillor for the Alliance Party.
Good to see that the Irish Independent is beginning at last to turn away from its anti-republican, anti-nationalist, revisionist stance. It is offering for sale a commemorative collection of 1798 medallions (with, incidentally, an advert adorned with An Phoblacht's logo).
Of course this new-found enthusiasm for the ideals of 1798 may have a purely commercial basis. The gold collection of medallions are selling for a mere £3,200.