Martin Corey’s family respond

In response to the comments made in last week’s Lurgan Mail by Trevor Ringland regarding our brother Martin, the Corey family would like to take the opportunity to state that since Martin’s arrest in April 2010, he has not been charged with any crime. We consider Martin’s ongoing detention a form of internment without trial.

Justice Tracy, the most experienced and accomplished Human Rights High Court judge in the north of Ireland, ordered Martin’s immediate release in July of this year, stating his human rights had been violated and the Northern Ireland Office had provided no tangible evidence of him committing any crime.

This of course was then blocked by the then Secretary of State Owen Patterson who showed that the British government could overrule the Northern Ireland judiciary, something most members of Mr Ringland’s profession found abhorrent.

Mr Ringland used the term “dissident” in relation to Martin. We would tend to use this term to describe someone lacking good sense, credibility or loyalty to a particular party. Something Mr Ringland would clearly know more about than Martin.

Martin served almost twenty years of his life in in prison. He was released in 1992 and began rebuilding his life. For the next twenty years he contributed to society, something anyone who actually knows him will confirm.

Martin’s case is currently going through the Court of Appeal. We are confident that Martin will receive justice once his case reaches the European Court of Human Rights. The possibility of Martin ever being charged with any terrorist related offence is as likely as Mr Ringland or his Conservative party who currently enjoy 0.4% of the electorate being elevated to the Northern Ireland Assembly.