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McBride kin calls for Aussie boycott of pol

February 16, 2011

By Staff Reporter

Spellar sat on the three-man British army board that decided Scots Guards James Fisher and Mark Wright could remain in the British army despite both being convicted of the murder.
Spellar, who is currently the Northern Ireland Office minister responsible for human rights, criminal justice and equality, has angered Sinn Fein and the SDLP over the last year by his refusal to provide an explanation of his
decision. He is subject to an ongoing campaign designed to remove him from the NIO.
Jean McBride has urged Australian politicians, who petitioned the British embassy in Sydney in 2000 about the decision, to boycott Spellar’s visit and to organize protests.
Peter McBride was shot dead by the two soldiers in North Belfast in 1992. He was walking away from them after they had stopped and searched him. The two attempted to claim that they believed McBride was preparing to throw a coffee-jar bomb at them at the time. McBride was unarmed.
The two were found guilty of murdering McBride in 1995 and sentenced to life imprisonment. They were later released from prison in 1998 and allowed to remain in the army as part of an “exceptional circumstances” clause.
The SDLP, Sinn Fein and the Irish government have since pressed for their removal from the British army. In 2000 a unanimous motion was passed in the Dail condemning the decision.
Both Wright and Fisher are believed to have been stationed with British forces in Southern Iraq since the war last year.
Spellar has already been boycotted by the mayors of Belfast and Derry. The SDLP mayor of Belfast, Martin Morgan, said Spellar would not be welcome at any function in Belfast city hall, while Derry mayor Shaun Gallagher has also vowed to boycott any function at which Spellar is present. Morgan has welcomed calls for protests against Spellar in Australia.

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