A jury at Ireland’s High Court on Friday determined that Adams had not acted honestly and fairly, and awarded him 100, 000 euros ($113, 000) in damages.
Denis Donaldson, a long-serving Sinn Fein official who acknowledged in 2005 that he had worked for British intelligence, was claimed in a 2016 documentary and online article that Adams had sanctioned his killing. Four months later, he was shot dead inside his rural Irish cottage.
According to an anonymous claim in the BBC “Spotlight,” Adams gave the Irish Republican Army’s political and military leaders “the final say” about the murder.
Adams denies having any part.
Adams, 76, claimed that the case was “about putting manners on the British Broadcasting Corporation.” Adams’ attorneys claimed that Adams was “very pleased with this unanimous verdict.”
One of the most significant figures in Northern Ireland’s decades of conflict and its peace process is 76. Between 1983 and 2018, he led Sinn Fein, a political organization connected to the IRA. He has always denied being a member of the IRA, but former coworkers have claimed to be one of its leaders.
The BBC claimed that it conducted its program in “good faith,” that it was “fair and reasonable,” and that the public interest was attracted to the claim supported by five other sources.
BBC Northern Ireland director Adam Smyth addressed reporters disappointed with the verdict while speaking with Spotlight reporter Jennifer O’Leary outside Dublin High Court.
We think we gave the court a lot of proof about the thorough editing and reporting care taken in this program and the accompanying online article,” Smyth said.
The court accepted, and Gerry Adams’ legal team conceded, that the Spotlight broadcast and publication served to the highest public interest, in addition.
As Spotlight was available for viewing in Ireland, where about 16, 000 people could watch it, Adams brought the case to Dublin.
Source: Aljazeera
Leave a Reply