Trades unions and political parties are to be invited to protest outside Derry Courthouse the next time Marian Price makes an appearance.
In a statement yesterday, the campaign organisation the Prisons Crisis Group said: “The continued imprisonment without trial of Marian Price becomes more scandalous by the day. Trades unions and a number of political parties have pledged their support for the demand for her release. We will be asking them to have a presence outside the Courthouse on November 21st. We have to show that opposition to what amounts to a reintroduction of internment is also continuing.”
Spokeswoman Betty Doherty said that Secretary of State Theresa Villiers was “selecting people to be put into jail not on the basis of actions which have been found to be criminal by the courts but on the basis of their politics.”
Ms. Doherty added that, “It is obvious that the key factor in making these decisions is attitudes to the Good Friday Agreement. If you are for it, you are safe, if opposed to it and you are an ex-prisoner, you are at continual risk of being returned to prison.
“This amounts to political bias.
“Marian was in court this week on a charge relating to an Easter Commemoration last year. We believe the charge is ridiculous. It is also the case that the three other people also charged as a result of the same event are on bail. Marian, too, was given bail on this charge. Yet, although seriously ill, she remains in prison.
“We want to be able to show that opposition to this state of affairs con tinues as strong as ever,. We are therefore looking to a representative attendance on the 21st.”
Betty Doherty was speaking on behalf of the Prisons Crisis Group.
