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Re: Accused Man Brutally Beaten

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On Thursday, January 28, 1999 at 3:00:00 AM UTC-5, gata_na...@my-dejanews.com wrote:
> http://www.sbpost.ie/newspaper/current/news/Accused.html
> Accused man brutally beaten
> Michael Caraher from Armagh was arrested in 1997 and has been in custody ever
> since in what has been described as `internment by remand'. Anton McCabe
> reports
> On 1 February Micheal Caraher from Cullyhanna, Co Armagh, will face charges
> of possessing two firearms and ammunition with intent to endanger life,
> conspiring to murder a person or persons unknown, IRA membership and
> attempted murder of an RUC Constable.
> Caraher has one working lung. Part of the other had to be removed as a result
> of his being shot and almost killed by soldiers on 30 December 1990. His
> younger brother, Feargal, was killed in the same incident as they drove out
> of a pub car park. The brutal and unprovoked nature of the shooting stirred
> great controversy. He has been in poor health since, regularly attending the
> thoracic surgeons in the Royal Victoria Hospital.
> On 10 April 1997 he was one of seven men arrested in an operation by
> undercover soldiers on a farm at Cregganduff, a country part to the north of
> the Crossmaglen-Newry road. This was seen as a major security force coup: one
> of the weapons found in a barn was a Barrett `Light Fifty' sniping rifle.
> Also in the barn was a car allegedly modified for use as a gun platform.
> Since 1992 eleven members of the security forces had been killed in
> single-shot attacks in South Armagh, and a sniper was being energetically
> hunted.
> One of those arrested is charged with the murder of Lance Bombardier Stephen
> Restorick at Bessbrook two months earlier: Restorick was the last soldier
> killed in Northern Ireland, and his killing was particularly emotive.
> The hype obscured worrying aspects. A report from Caraher's doctor, Mary
> Allen, states that he received a very severe beating during his arrest. He
> had gone to the farm to inquire about work baling silage, and was not in the
> barn where the weapons and car were. A number of men suddenly appeared,
> grabbed him and pushed him face-downwards onto the ground. He was kept there
> by someone holding or pressing on his neck, and another or others standing on
> the backs of his legs. He was kicked in the ribs and head.
> After some minutes, he was handcuffed and left to kneel for more than an hour
> in a field. While kneeling, he fainted.
> The arrest occurred around 3pm. Dr Allen examined him early the following
> morning, finding him ``quite ill'', in pain, short of breath and
> disorientated. Both sides of his head were tender, showing signs of fresh
> bruising, with a large swelling on his skull. There was ``tenderness all over
> the chest wall'' and more fresh bruising. His calves and knees were bruised.
> His left hand was also injured. Dr Allen accuses the police of being ``not
> co-operative'' about either access or treatment.
> She recommended that he be admitted to hospital and seen by a psychiatrist.
> Caraher received no such treatment: during his seven-day further detention in
> Gough Barracks, Armagh, he was twice taken briefly to Craigavon Area Hospital
> by police car, having been sent there by the police doctor.
> His solicitor, Rosemary Nelson, says it is ``much too regular that when he
> comes into contact with the security forces he sustains injuries''. On June
> 18 1997 he was assaulted by police at a remand hearing in Craigavon Court.
> These injuries required hospital treatment.
> The matter was brought to the attention of the magistrate, but he refused to
> intervene. Though handcuffed at the time, Caraher has been charged with
> assaulting police.
> Caraher had been increasingly concerned at police aggression during remand
> hearings. When he was being taken up from cells that day, he alleges that
> police threatened ``We'll get you, Caraher''.
> The others arrested with Caraher received similar treatment, from both the
> SAS squad who arrested them, and the RUC men who arrived by car about
> half-an-hour later. The Irish Times of 18 April 1997 reported that Bernard
> Martin McGinn from Castleblayney, Co Monaghan, was beaten with rifle butts
> and barrels. He had to be brought to Craigavon area hospital after his
> arrest. He was suffering extensive haematoma in both eyes, lacerations to the
> nose, injuries to the head requiring staples, lacerations on the shoulders,
> injuries to the arm caused by puncture wounds by rifle barrels, and injuries
> to the lower back.
> Six days after his arrest he was still in such pain that he had difficulty in
> holding a pen. Nearly two years afterwards, he still suffers dizzy spells due
> to the blows on his head: nerves in his neck may have been damaged. Thomas
> Tiernan, Michael Mines' solicitor, saw visible cuts and bruises on his head
> when he was finally granted access to him on the 12th.
> Dr Allen examined Seamus McArdle and found he also had quite serious injuries.
> Since Feargal Caraher was shot, there has been a constant pattern of
> harassment against the Caraher family. Micheal was told they were ``going to
> send him the same way that Feargal went''. Mention of Feargal has been a
> constant feature in any contact with the security forces.
> Caraher's father, Peter John, accuses the RUC of having pointed the family
> out to each new army regiment. Photographs were taken of the family, which
> they were told were being passed on to the UVF. Of this, Peter John says ``I
> never had no dread of my Protestant neighbours. They are the best of
> people''. Despite years of harassment, Michael Caraher is the first of his
> family to be ever charged with any offence.
> The length of his remand concerns Rosemary Nelson, who calls it ``internment
> by remand''.
> It has lasted over 21 months: the trial will last a minimum of six weeks.
> Given remission, this is the equivalent of a four-year sentence. Such a long
> delay is now unusual in Northern Ireland.
> ---
> ^..^
> >'< Mess with me and -- Go n-ithe an cat thú is go n-ithe an diabhal
> an cat.
> http://sinnfein.ie
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A true hero, up the ra!

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