McKevitt Conviction Challenge

national | crime and justice | news report

Sunday December 07, 2008 22:32

by Ian Greene

Legal Team Make Fresh Application to Supreme Court

Lawyers acting on behalf of Michael McKevitt have submitted a fresh application to the Supreme Court in Dublin seeking to have a previous Supreme Court judgement overturned and a new appeal initiated. This unprecedented action by McKevitt’s legal team is prompted by the fact that the previous Supreme Court judgement (July 2008) relied greatly on ‘facts’ provided by the prosecution. Subsequently, the Director of Public Prosecutions has acknowledged these to be inaccurate.

Michael McKevitt

Lawyers acting on behalf of Michael McKevitt have submitted a fresh application to the Supreme Court in Dublin seeking to have a previous Supreme Court judgement overturned and a new appeal initiated. This unprecedented action by McKevitt’s legal team is prompted by the fact that the previous Supreme Court judgement (July 2008) relied greatly on ‘facts’ provided by the prosecution. Subsequently, the Director of Public Prosecutions has acknowledged these to be inaccurate.

Although Michael McKevitt has the option to take his case to the European Court of Human Rights, he has opted to instruct his lawyers to go back to the Supreme Court, as according to sources he is determined to have his appeal dealt with by an Irish Court. It is believed that this is due in part to the fact that new evidence has come to hand that will further undermine his conviction.

Michael McKevitt is currently serving a twenty year sentence for Directing and Membership of an Illegal Organisation. This will be Michael’s eighth Christmas in captivity. Michael was arrested in March 2001 and convicted in August 2003 on the word of MI5/FBI informer David Rupert. Rupert an American with a dubious background was a long-time career informant since the early 1970’s. It is believed Rupert received payments in excess of €5 million as part of his deal with MI5 and FBI.
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