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10/08/2011
Sinn Fein MP Calls For Prisoner's Release
The Sinn Fein politician who replaced the party President as the MP for West Belfast has again called for action over an ill republican prisoner after it emerged that Brendan Lillis was being moved from prison to an outside hospital.
Paul Maskey - who replaced Gerry Adams when he was elected as a TD for Louth in the Irish Republic - said: "We have been in contact with Brendan's family, the Justice Department and the prison administration.
"We have been warning for several months that Brendan Lillis was seriously ill," he said.
Addressing the Stormont Justice Minister, David Ford, he insisted that the Alliance party Leader "cannot deny he knew of the seriousness of this situation".
"His partner Roisin was told that a doctor had ordered that Brendan be moved from Maghaberry prison and into a proper hospital," he continued.
"David Ford needs to get a grip on this case. The advice he has been given to date by officials is clearly wrong. He now needs to do the right thing.
"He has the power to act and sort this situation out. He needs to release Brendan Lillis on compassionate and humanitarian grounds," he said.
Brendan Lillis suffers from a severe form of arthritis and his family have campaigned for his release on compassionate grounds.
Lillis was originally jailed in the 1970s on explosive charges and was released on licence in 1993 but returned to jail two years ago after he was arrested alongside other men who had been planning to rob a bank by kidnapping its staff.
A spokesman for the NI Prison Service confirmed the change in situation: "The South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust has primary responsibility for health care within prisons," he said.
"A doctor has recommended that Mr Lillis be transferred to an outside hospital for assessment. The prison service is working to facilitate this request."
Last month, the Prison Service said there were not sufficient grounds to justify his release on compassionate grounds.
The case was then passed for consideration by the parole commissioners. They also ruled he should not be released on compassionate grounds.
See: 'No Release' But Lillis Campaign Continues
(BMcC/GK)
Paul Maskey - who replaced Gerry Adams when he was elected as a TD for Louth in the Irish Republic - said: "We have been in contact with Brendan's family, the Justice Department and the prison administration.
"We have been warning for several months that Brendan Lillis was seriously ill," he said.
Addressing the Stormont Justice Minister, David Ford, he insisted that the Alliance party Leader "cannot deny he knew of the seriousness of this situation".
"His partner Roisin was told that a doctor had ordered that Brendan be moved from Maghaberry prison and into a proper hospital," he continued.
"David Ford needs to get a grip on this case. The advice he has been given to date by officials is clearly wrong. He now needs to do the right thing.
"He has the power to act and sort this situation out. He needs to release Brendan Lillis on compassionate and humanitarian grounds," he said.
Brendan Lillis suffers from a severe form of arthritis and his family have campaigned for his release on compassionate grounds.
Lillis was originally jailed in the 1970s on explosive charges and was released on licence in 1993 but returned to jail two years ago after he was arrested alongside other men who had been planning to rob a bank by kidnapping its staff.
A spokesman for the NI Prison Service confirmed the change in situation: "The South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust has primary responsibility for health care within prisons," he said.
"A doctor has recommended that Mr Lillis be transferred to an outside hospital for assessment. The prison service is working to facilitate this request."
Last month, the Prison Service said there were not sufficient grounds to justify his release on compassionate grounds.
The case was then passed for consideration by the parole commissioners. They also ruled he should not be released on compassionate grounds.
See: 'No Release' But Lillis Campaign Continues
(BMcC/GK)
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