32 CSM condemn politically motivated arrests.

South Down 32 County Sovereignty Movement.
02/04/2010

32CSM condemn politically motivated arrests.

The South Down branch of the 32 County Sovereignty Movement condemn the politically motivated arrests of three of it’s members on Tuesday night.

At approximately 11.10 pm on Tuesday 31st March , three members of the 32 County Sovereignty Movement were travelling through Castlewellan having delivered Easter Lilly’s to various parts of the area. Several car loads of heavily armed DMSU personnel boxed the car in and came running to the vehicle with weapons drawn in a highly agitated and aggressive manner. This elite unit of the RUC/PSNI then proceeded to scream obscenities to the car’s occupants as well as barking a series of incomprehensible and conflicting orders.

The three members of the sovereignty movement were then handcuffed and made stand at the roadside under armed guard for up to 45 minutes in blizzard conditions before being arrested under section 41 of the terrorism act and taken to Antrim interrogation centre.

Our activists were then held incommunicado at Antrim for 12 hours before being given access to solicitors and then being interrogated. These interrogations lasted about 50 minutes and when it became clear that they were going nowhere the special branch detectives called a halt without producing one strand of evidence or even a reason as to why the men were arrested.
All three men were released without charge at 6.00pm on Thursday 1st April.

There is no doubt that these arrests and the accompanying house raids were politically motivated and designed to curtail legal politically activity in the run up to Easter however their efforts have proved counter productive in not alone strengthening our resolve but in illustrating to the residents of Castlewellan who witnessed the military wing of the RUC in action.
The South Down 32CSM take this opportunity to send Easter greeting’s to our friends, comrades and supporters.