Dissident republican Real IRA leader Michael McKevitt was sentenced to 20 years in prison, a day after he was convicted for directing terrorism. The sentence was less than the possible maximum of life imprisonment set under a law in the Republic of Ireland that followed a bomb attack by the Real IRA in Omagh, Northern Ireland that left 29 dead and hundreds injured.
| Faith! The boyz're right up there with the Qaedas! |
The 1998 blast was the worst single atrocity of the troubles in Northern Ireland between its pro-British Protestant majority and Catholics who favor union with the republic. McKevitt, 53, was the first person ever to be convicted in Ireland of directing terrorism, an offence created in the wake of the Omagh bombing. He appeared in Dublin's Special Criminal Court on Thursday, after refusing the day before to leave his cell. Besides the 20-year prison term, he was also sentenced to serve six years concurrently for membership of an illegal organisation. His plans to appeal, expressed in a statement Wednesday, were dashed when the three judges who sit on the Special Criminal Court refused to give him leave to challenge the outcome.
| I suppose he can always starve himself to death in protest... |
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