Omicidio Pat Finucane: la famiglia può ricorrere contro la decisione britannica

Finucanes granted judicial review

The family of murdered Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane has been granted a judicial review of the decision by the British government not to hold a public inquiry into his death.

High Court judge Mr Justice Ben Stephens granted the review today. The case will be heard at the Belfast High Court in May and will last for three days.

Mr Finucane was killed at his north Belfast home by loyalist gunmen in 1989.

British prime minister David Cameron earlier this year accepted there had been collusion in the killing.

Mr Finucane’s widow Geraldine said: “I am very pleased that he has granted us leave to go forward to a full judicial review hearing and I think the significant aspect of it was that it was completely unopposed (by the Government).

“It was surprising but a very pleasant surprise for a change.”

Mr Cameron announced last autumn that instead of ordering a public inquiry he was appointing lawyer Sir Desmond de Silva to consider evidence in the case. The decision has been denounced by Mr Finucane’s family.

Mrs Finucane said she would not be co-operating with Sir Desmond but welcomed the challenge planned for May 9th.

She said they were promised a public inquiry by the Government. “For the British government to turn around and unilaterally decide to change that and say that a review of the papers is the way forward left us no other way to do this than to push for a judicial review,” she said. “It is only the start but it was unopposed and we will then move forward to a full hearing.”

Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams welcomed the court’s decision. “It is outrageous that the British prime minister should erect obstacles before the Finucane family, break commitments given to them and force that family into another court hearing to get to the truth,” he said.

He noted that Taoiseach Enda Kenny raised the case with Mr Cameron in London yesterday. “[Mr Kenny] needs to go beyond polite conversations which go nowhere,” he said. “The Irish Government must relentlessly press the British government on this issue through every diplomatic means and at every international institution open to it.”

Amnesty International Ireland also welcomed the ruling and accused the British government of failing the Finucane family. “It has an obligation to establish a full, independent, impartial inquiry into his murder,” said executive director Colm O’Gorman. “The fact that the Finucane family have had to fight for the truth through the courts at every stage is a sad reminder of the continuing obstacles to accountability in Northern Ireland and a testament to the family’s bravery.”

Secretary of State Owen Paterson apologised at Westminster for the state’s collusion in the killing in which Mr Finucane was shot 14 times by gunmen from the loyalist Ulster Defence Association (UDA) in front of his wife and three children.

During talks on the peace process at Weston Park in Shropshire in 2001 the British government of the day entered into an agreement with the Irish Government to hold inquiries into allegations that their respective security forces were linked to a number of notorious murder cases, including the Finucane killing.