Gregory Campbell MP: Will Gerry Adams now sue over IRA allegations?
Gregory Campbell MP believes the outcome of Gerry Adams' libel case poses two serious questions – one for the BBC and one for Mr Adams himself.
The BBC has been ordered to pay former Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams €100,000 (£84,000) after he won a “resounding” libel victory over the broadcaster.
Mr Adams took the BBC to court over an episode of its ‘Spotlight’ programme, and an accompanying online story, which he said defamed him by alleging he sanctioned the killing of former Sinn Fein official Denis Donaldson, for which he denies any involvement.
A jury at the High Court in Dublin found in his favour on Friday after determining that was the meaning of words included in the programme and article.
It also found the BBC’s actions were not in good faith and the corporation had not acted in a fair and reasonable way.
Addressing the outcome on a recent episode of the BBC's ‘Talkback’ programme, Mr Campbell said: “There are two things which jumped out at me and I hope for others. One is the BBC going forward.
“This was a specific case and the BBC will have to be as meticulous as they possibly can whenever they are trying to establish whether people bring forward certain assertions or allegations about what individuals have done.
“They will have to proof-read that to a significant degree which the jury appears to find that they didn't do in this specific case.
“The second thing is how it affects Gerry Adams – nobody should ignore this.
“There are a whole series of people, who were former members of the IRA, who have claimed on the record, as well as off the record, that they have served in the Provisional IRA with Gerry Adams.
“So is Gerry Adams going to take a case against those individuals?
“Is he going to or are they all liars? Are they all people who have perjured themselves or were they telling the truth?
“That's a question for Gerry Adams about all the others who have made certain allegations … but quite a few that I know of have made quite general assertions which were along the lines of 'I served in a certain battalion and Gerry Adams was our leader in the IRA'.”