McGeough campaign wins Spanish support

The Mayor of Sant Feliu de Llobregat has asked for the immediate release of Gerry McGeough, who was jailed last year for the attempted murder in 1981 of the Democratic Unionist party councillor Samuel Brush.

The motion received the full support of all twenty-one councillors from the hometown of McGeough’s wife, Maria José.

It will be presented to the British Ambassador to Spain Mr Giles Paxman, British Prime Minister David Cameron and British Secretary of State Theresa Villiers.

Catalonian MEP’s will now submit a resolution to the European Parliament to request the immediate release of McGeough.

The motion passed reads as follows:

1. We call on the British Government to release Gerry McGeough and that this request is presented to the British Ambassador to Spain.

2. We call on the Spanish Government to negotiate with the British Government to secure the release of Gerry McGeough

3. We call on the Stormont Assembly to negotiate with the British Government to secure the release of Gerry McGeough

4. We call on the Catalonian members of the European Parliament to submit a resolution requesting the release of Gerry McGeough

5. To present this motion to the Parliamentary Group of the Spanish Chamber of Deputies and the Parliament of Catalonia

Under the terms of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, hundreds of IRA and loyalist paramilitary prisoners were given early release and a de facto amnesty for past crimes.

McGeough, however, was sentenced last year to 20 years for attempted murder, possession of a firearm and ammunition and IRA membership.

His supporters claim he was singled out for special treatment by the state because he broke with Sinn Féin.