Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
IRSP deny link to extortion & sex trade
Republicans hit out at criminality
THE IRSP yesterday distanced itself from allegations the INLA is involved in extortion and running prostitution.
In a statement issued on Tuesday the Irish Republican Socialist Party said anyone involved in such criminal activity has “divorced” themselves from the movement.
Although their statement did not mention the police, it appears to suggest anyone who can help victims of trafficking should go to the PSNI if they “see fit”. The announcement comes in the wake of a large scale operation by the Paramilitary Crime Task Force on Friday.
More than 200 police officers, along with HMRC and NCA personnel, targeted the INLA amid claims the terror group is involved in criminality including prostitution and extortion.
A number of people were arrested and premises, including the IRSP’S Falls Road headquarters, were subjected to searches.
Three people, two Romanian nationals and a local man, have since appeared in court accused of brothel keeping.
In its statement, published on the party website, the IRSP says its ard comhairle “has met in relation to developments over the weekend and hereby state confidently that neither they nor the wider Republican Socialist family had any knowledge of matters of human trafficking, extortion or prostitution”.
It added: “Any individual engaged in such appalling criminal actions has divorced himself automatically from republican socialism and the IRSP. Concerns around the sexual exploitation of vulnerable individuals stand above party politics, we call on those with information that can end such human suffering to provide it to which ever agency they see fit, confident that no criminal will enjoy shelter from republican socialism or the IRSP.”