February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Mackin, a New York resident since 1984 when he claimed political asylum in the U.S., was arrested on the Grosvenor Road in Belfast Friday afternoon.
A struggle broke out between Mackin and the police officers during the arrest, according to some witnesses.
A spokesperson for the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) later confirmed that an arrest had been made but did not give Mackin’s name: “a 45-year-old man was arrested by uniformed officers on suspicion of murder at Grosvenor Road, west Belfast, at 2.30.”
“He was taken to the Antrim Serious Crimes Suite for questioning.”
Mackin was held under the Terrorism Act 2000.
Sinn Fein demanded the immediate release of Mackin and contacted the US consulate in Belfast to protest his arrest.
Mackin’s niece witnessed the arrest and told her mother Roisin, Mackin’s sister. When she contacted the police, according to Sinn Fein, they denied they had him in custody.
When a lawyer contacted the police some time later, they confirmed they had Mackin in custody in Antrim.
Sinn Fein said there was outrage in the area at Mackin’s arrest. A spokesman said he was a frequent and open visitor to the area and had never been arrested before.
Mackin was a member of the INLA for many years before he moved to the U.S.
A federal immigration court granted him and his family asylum in the U.S. in January 1992, in what was hailed as a groundbreaking case. He faced deportation for overstaying a tourist visa from 1984. Patrick Finucane, whose 1989 murder by loyalists in Belfast was investigated for evidence of police collusion by Canadian judge Peter Cory, was an expert witness for Mackin at a court hearing in November 1988, three months before he was killed.
Sinn F