The Hindu : International / Globescan : McCartney family faces threat

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, May 16, 2005

International

International - Globescan

McCartney family faces threat

BELFAST: Northern Ireland Ministers strongly condemned threats to burn the family of murdered Belfast man Robert McCartney out of their homes and vowed that the British government would do all it could to support them. McCartney's relatives blamed the IRA when he was stabbed outside a crowded city centre bar in January and accused Sinn Fein — of whom there were three members in the bar — of a cover-up. But detectives met a wall of silence, and his five sisters, Catherine, Donna, Paula, Gemma and Claire, and his fiancee, Bridgeen Hagans, launched a high-profile quest for justice, which has taken them to the White House and the European Parliament. Police have now warned the family and Ms. Hagan that their lives are at risk from ``criminal elements.'' The family are convinced republicans are behind the threats, which came days after the European Parliament voted to fund civil action against the suspects if criminal proceedings do not take place. They said they would accept police protection but they vowed not to back down. —

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