By Jon Slattery
The NUJ has marked the fourth anniversary of the murder of Sunday
World journalist Martin O’Hagan by calling on the Police Service of
Northern Ireland (PSNI) to hand over the investigation into his killing
to an outside force.
O’Hagan (pictured above) was shot dead by a gunman as he and his
wife Marie walked home from a night out in a local pub in Lurgan on 28
September 2001.
NUJ Irish secretary Séamus Dooley said rumours
linking police informers to the death of O’Hagan raised fundamental
questions about the murder.
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Dooley said: “In our discussions with
the PSNI we have been advised that the police do not have sufficient
evidence to bring charges against the suspects.
“There is a
strong belief that the police know who killed Martin O’Hagan.
Throughout Northern Ireland there is a deep suspicion that some of
those linked to the murder have had an association with the police and
army, and are protected from prosecution.
“The only way this
matter can be resolved is for the Chief Constable of the PSNI to hand
over the investigation to an outside body.”
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Dooley also condemned
the campaign against the Sunday World by Loyalist groups, which has
seen copies of the paper set alight inside shops, shopkeepers and van
drivers threatened and vehicles hijacked.
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