Only Innocent Should Benefit from any Libyan Compensation
28 October 2009
Reacting to speculation on last night’s edition of Stoplight about possible compensation from Libya Jim Allister said:
“Innocent victims are to be commended for their tenacity in campaigning for justice. Libya gave huge support to the Provisional IRA. Republican terrorists could not have mounted the sustained and particularly vicious campaign they did had it not been for explosives, arms and finance from Tripoli. It is only right, therefore, that they compensate the victims of IRA violence.
“However, a disturbing aspect of last night’s documentary was that it opened up the possibility that money could be allocated not just to the victims of terrorists but to all “victims” as defined by the 2006 Victims and Survivors Order.
“The 2006 Order has been long opposed by TUV because it lays down in statute the same definition of victim as that employed by Lord Eames and Dennis Bradley – those who were killed while engaged in terrorism are placed in the same category as innocent victims.
“The Eames/Bradley proposal to pay compensation to those defined as “victims” by the 2006 Order caused outrage among innocent victims and they courageously refused to accept any money if it was offered on that basis. Their resolve forced Her Majesty’s Government to back down.
“Any attempt by terrorists or their families to piggyback on the tremendous work done innocent victims to get compensation from Libya should likewise be steadfastly resisted.
“Of course, the greatest insult to innocent victims today is that the men whom Gaddafi armed now sit in the government of the Province they are still dedicated to destroying!”
