Former Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams praised the “emphatic end” of the case against him and denied any involvement in the IRA.
A civil lawsuit for damages claims against former Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams was closed on Friday, after three victims of bombings in England by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) dropped their charges against him.
Why was the case dropped against Gerry Adams?
It was supposed to be the last day of the two-week civil trial in the UK’s High Court in London, but proceedings were brought to a halt on Friday.
Adams’ lawyer, Edward Craven, said the aim of the lawsuit was to have a “public inquiry-style” hearing, which he said could amount to abuse of the court system.
Subsequently, the lawyer representing the three men said the claim would be discontinued after “proceedings developed overnight,” related to an argument around “abuse of process.”
The lawyer added that her clients would not be liable for any costs related to Adams and provided no further details.
The three victims had accused Adams of being “directly responsible for and complicit in those decisions made by that organization to detonate bombs on the British mainland in 1973 and 1996.”
The men were each victims of the 1973 Old Bailey bombing in London, the 1996 London Docklands bombing and the 1996 Arndale shopping center bombing in Manchester.
They were suing Adams for a symbolic £1 ($1.33) in damages, accusing him of being a leading member of the Provisional IRA on those dates, including its Army Council.
Adams rejects ‘smears,’ ‘false accusations’
Adams welcomed the “emphatic end” of the case against him, saying the claims “should never have been brought.”
He told the court he had “no involvement whatsoever” in the bombings and denied being a member of the Provisional IRA.
Adams said he attended the trial “out of respect” for the victims and to defend himself “against the smears and false accusations” being leveled against him.
“I do not defend all the IRA actions,” added Adams, who has always denied being a member of the IRA. Adams “categorically” denied involvement in the attacks.
“I asserted the legitimacy of the Republican cause and the right of the people of Ireland to freedom and self-determination. I do so again,” he added.
“I am glad to have been one of those who helped bring an end to the conflict,” Adams said. “We now have, through the Good Friday Agreement, a peaceful and democratic route to a new Ireland,” he added.
From separatist to peacemaker
The trial was the first time Adams testified in an English court. The 77-year-old, who became president of Sinn Fein in 1983, has been embroiled in several legal spats over his role in “the Troubles,” the three-decade period of violence involving Irish republican and British loyalist militants, along with UK soldiers.
Adams was the best-known face of the movement to end British rule in Northern Ireland, but over time he emerged as a peacemaker, helping secure the 1998 Good Friday Agreement that largely ended the sectarian conflict.
Adams was elected as an MP in Northern Ireland from 1983 to 1992 and again from 1997 to 2011, but he never took his seat in the UK’s House of Commons, in line with the party’s policy of abstentionism.
Edited by: Alex Berry
DW News
