This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-31382924
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Version 0 | Version 1 |
---|---|
Boston College Project: Winston Rea wins PSNI restraining order | Boston College Project: Winston Rea wins PSNI restraining order |
(35 minutes later) | |
An ex-loyalist prisoner has secured a last-minute court order to stop Northern Ireland police getting hold of interviews he gave to a US university. | An ex-loyalist prisoner has secured a last-minute court order to stop Northern Ireland police getting hold of interviews he gave to a US university. |
Winston Rea was one of dozens of former paramilitaries who provided testimonies about the Northern Ireland Troubles to Boston College's Belfast Project. | Winston Rea was one of dozens of former paramilitaries who provided testimonies about the Northern Ireland Troubles to Boston College's Belfast Project. |
On Monday, he lost a court bid to stop the PSNI accessing the interviews. | |
But on Tuesday night, as PSNI officers were on a flight to Boston, Mr Rea won an emergency restraining order. | |
'Oral history project' | |
His lawyers had taken the case to the Court of Appeal after their challenge was thrown out by a High Court judge in Belfast on Monday. | His lawyers had taken the case to the Court of Appeal after their challenge was thrown out by a High Court judge in Belfast on Monday. |
The PSNI detectives' flight was mid-Atlantic when Court of Appeal judges issued their ruling, banning police from taking possession of the recordings until at least Friday. | |
Mr Rea was among loyalists and republicans who provided testimonies to Boston College researchers for an oral history project on the Northern Ireland conflict. | |
The interviews were given on the understanding that tapes would not be made public until after the participants' deaths. | The interviews were given on the understanding that tapes would not be made public until after the participants' deaths. |
'Right to privacy' | |
However, the researchers' assurances were dealt a blow in 2013 when PSNI detectives investigating the murder of Belfast mother-of-ten Jean McConville in 1972 secured the transcripts of interviews given by former IRA woman Dolours Price. | |
The Price interviews were handed over following court battles on both sides of the Atlantic. | |
Mr Rea, a former loyalist prisoner, had sought to judicially review the Public Prosecution Service's (PPS) attempts to obtain his interviews. | |
The emergency restraining order has been granted until Friday, when Mr Rea's lawyers are expected to renew legal arguments that the PSNI move breaches his right to privacy. |