Irish republican, Diarmuid O'Neill was shot and murdered in cold blood. In the aftermath of his killing the police and the state tried to suggest he had been killed in a gun battle but it quickly emerged that not only was O'Neill unarmed, no weapons were recovered the flat in Hammersmith where he died.
Before a police marksman pumped six automatic rounds into him at close range, he was disabled by other officers throwing CS gas into his flat. Although there was never any chance of making the gun battle story stick, the authorities continue to spread lies an lisinformation. The claim tha O'Neill was taken out of the premises on a stretcher is graphically contradicted by the press photographs of blood on the front steps of the house. These suggest that dead or alive, he was dragged out.
Since his death numerous stories about his past activities have been planted in the media.
A past conviction for fraud and the alleged diversion of the proceeds to the coffers of the IRA supposedly demonstrate his unstinting commitment to that organisation.
Without any proof being offered it is said that he was intimately involved in the planting of the bomb at Canary Wharf earlier this year. Now the existence of a Basque girlfriend supposedly demonstrates a connection with ETA as well as the IRA.
Such stories not only whip up prejudice against the murdered O'Neil but also stir up anti-Irish bigotry. O'Neil's brother was arrested at the time of his death but has now been released.
Last weekend the mens' parents said in a statement: "We are relieved that our youngest son, Shane, has been released from custody ...Diarmuid was never arrested; he can never be tried, nor can he be acquitted or convicted other than by the press who have not waited to have a full and proper picture before judging him.
Instead, those who accused him took the law into their own hands and killed him."
What happened to Diarmuid O'Neill is the latest tragic incident in a long history of state executions of Irish people. Throughout this the British government has constantly denied any policy of "shoot to kill.
Both the Stalker inquiry and the killing of three unarmed IRA members in Gibraltar in | 988 show that such a policy has existed, even if only at certain periods. Such a policy was supposedly justified on the basis of self defence of the individuals involved - in this case as in many others there is no way this could hold water.
The treatment of those who testified in the Gibraltar case may mean that no witnesses will come forward this time and we will never get the full picture.
Only hours after the events in Hammersmith the police were pressurising neighbours not to speak to the media. The Police Complaints Authority is to investigate the Hammersmith shooting and there will be no official comment until after this.
Some commentators are now suggesting that a mistake may have been made. Sinisterly this is accompanied by a suggestion that in terms of a successful fight against the IRA, such mistakes are inevitable and that the annihilation of one or several individuals is only a small price to pay. BOBBY SANDS Diarmuid O'Neill An Phoblacht THE FINAL SALUTE
Socialist Outlook 109 • S7 October 1996.