The Gazette 1983

APRIL 1983

GAZETTE

Correspondence

death. My own recollection of the case is that the Judge having spent three quarters of an hour indicating the gravity of the offence, did say why he proposed to suspend the sentences. The grounds cited by him were: firstly, that the gang element in the assault outdid individual participation and accordingly diffused individual culpability. He should explain his logic to my son in Glasnevin who was the focus of combined attention of the said individuals when he fought for his life. My understanding was that people who acted in consent or conspired to commit a crime were treated to a heavier hand of the law than the solitary criminal. The reverse was applied in this case. The second reason cited for a non-custodial sentence was the character evidence. Wh en evidence of the defendants' angelic characters was being given by a procession of tame clergymen et al, it was remarked by the Judge, if memory serves me correctly, that during the period the character witnesses were forming such good impressions of them, some of the defendants were regularly assaulting and robbing people. What value should one therefore attach to such character assessments? Yet the Judge found great merit in them as mitigating factors. You refer in your article to the deplorable standard of the Dáil debate which I translate to mean that when legal personalities are subject to public criticism it's "close ranks time". This seems to be borne out as the tenor of the article is by and large a defence of the Judge's inexplicable sentence. If T . D . 's on both sides of the house were vociferous perhaps it was because of the obvious inequity in the sentence handed down and their impotence in the matter. Your final paragraph implies that justice was done while suggesting it was not seen to be done. Justice was not done and was seen to be not done — hence the furore.

The Editor, Incorporated Law Society Gazette, Blackhall Place, Dublin 7.

12th April 1983

Dear Sir, On behalf of Amnesty International, I would like to draw your readers' attention to the unjust detention of a Zambian lawyer. Nkaka Chisanga Puta was served with a one year detention order two weeks after he was detained by police. Such orders can be continually renewed and detainees have no effective means of challenging them. The authorities stated Mr. Puta was held because of efforts to release prisoners charged with plotting the overthrow of the government. There has been no formal charge. I believe he is being held because he defended his uncle, a former government minister, subsequently charged with treason. In No v emb er 1980 he successfully applied for his uncle's release on a writ of habeas corpus, (he was immediately re-detained under a new order). This and other attempts to secure his client's release have embarrassed the Zambian authorities. Th o u gh a habeas corpus action on Mr. Puta's behalf failed in the High Court in De c ember 1981, the judge did find that he had been subjected to inhuman treatment and ordered that he be compensated. The present order expires in July this year; it is likely, however, that it will be renewed unless pressure can be brought on the Zambian government, and President Kaunda in particular, to release him. He is being held in Mpina Prison, Kabwe. I urge members of your Society to appeal to President Kaunda on behalf of Nkaka Chisanga Puta. Please send courteous letters to:

Mary Flynn, 183 Swords Road,

Whitehall, Dublin 9.

His Excellency President Kenneth Kaunda, State House,

Lusaka, Zambia.

Professional Information

Yours sincerely, Jean Cross, AMN E S TY I N T E R N A T I O N AL Liberty Hall, Dublin 1

(continued from p. 110.)

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The Editor, Incorporated Law Society of Ireland Gazette, Blackhall Place, Dublin 7.

25.5.83.

Dear Sir, My attention has been drawn to the cover article in your April issue where you discuss the sequel to Fairview Park and certain aspects of the case. As Declan Flynn's mother you might permit me to comment. You say the furore following the sentence confused and obscured important issues. The most important issue was never obscured. Judge Gannon set at liberty five people who on their own admission made a habit (and presumably a tidy profit) of beating people up and who beat my son to

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