Shocking prisoner neglect

international | rights, freedoms and repression | opinion/analysis Thursday March 30, 2006 12:39 by Paul Doyle - The New Republican Forum: www.newrepublicanforum.ie pauldoyle2006 at hotmail dot com The New Republican Forum, PO Box 10, Dundalk Sorting Office, Dundalk, Co. Louth, Ireland. 0851048298

Irish prisioner Aiden Hulme has been subject to shocking medical neglect since his inprisonment in England and will loose his leg if immidiate action is not taken.

Sign the online petition: http://www.petitiononline.com/87bb92a/petition.html

Aiden Hulme (pictured right)

An online petition aimed at securing the repatriation of republican prisoner Aiden Hulme has just been launched by the New Republican Forum.

Aiden is currently serving a 22-year sentence in Full Sutton prison, England. He was imprisoned for alleged involvement in the 2000/2001 ‘Real’ IRA bombing campaign in London. He has lost his appeal against conviction and sentence and is currently awaiting repatriation to Portlaoise Prison in Ireland.

Prior to his arrest and imprisonment Aiden was involved in a serious motorcycle accident that left him with a severely injured leg. In the immediate aftermath of the accident he was receiving medical treatment at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast and his condition was improving at the time of his detention.

However, subsequent to his arrest and imprisonment in Britain’s notorious Belmarsh Special Secure Unit [SSU], Aiden’s medical condition began to deteriorate at an alarming rate.

In response to intense political pressure the Belmarsh authorities reluctantly acquired the services of a medical specialist and doctor to examine Aiden’s injured leg. After a brief examination the Belmarsh-appointed specialist informed him that the injured leg should be amputated. Aiden’s family and friends, disturbed by and suspicious of this opinion, immediately sought a second opinion.

After intensive and prolonged political lobbying by the Irish Political Status Committee and other human rights groups an independent specialist was permitted access to Belmarsh SSU to examine Aiden. After the examination the independent specialist deemed the limb “saveable” – contrary to the opinion of the prison-appointed specialist.

Not only is Aiden still being denied proper treatment but astonishingly, the Full Sutton prison authorities have decided to withdraw his pain-killing medication on a gradual basis. No alternative medication has been offered on the grounds that the pain in his leg is “purely psychological”.

The British authorities had transferred all the official documentation relating to Aiden’s repatriation bid to the Department of Justice in Dublin by September 2005 but the application has still not been processed. These delays are leaving Aiden at risk of having his injured leg amputated in England.

Here's the link in case anyone is interested in signing it:

http://www.petitiononline.com/87bb92a/petition.html

We plan to picket the department of Justice where the delay in Aiden's repatriation bid is occuring - during which we intend to present a printed version of the petition to department staff.

If anyone is interested in helping with this campaign, which has the support of several political and humanitarian organisations, contact me on:

pauldoyle2006@hotmail.com

Thanks,

Paul Doyle,

New Republican Forum.