Amnesty boss: We won’t return €137k to Soros
O’Gorman may face jail over law breach
AMNESTY International Ireland boss Colm O’Gorman has refused to say if he is prepared to go to jail over a breach of campaign finance law by his organisation.
The group, which has been campaigning for the repeal of the Eighth Amendment, has been ordered by the Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO) to return a €137,000 donation from pro-choice billionaire George Soros’s Open Society Foundation. But Amnesty Ireland has said it will not do so.
Mr Soros is a supporter of the pro-choice campaign and his foundation has funded other prochoice groups in the past. The Hungarian-American businessman, 86, is among the top 30 wealthiest people in the world.
The money was donated to Amnesty International Ireland’s “My Body, My Rights” campaign which advocates a woman’s right to choose an abortion.
Breaches of the SIPO Act can carry a fine of up to €25,000 and the possibility of three years in jail. Asked if he was willing to go to prison over the matter yesterday, Mr O’Gorman told the MoS: ‘Amnesty International will not be complying with SIPO’s instructions and we are now in the space where we are getting legal advice. But we will not be complying with SIPO’s instructions. Whatever that means is a matter for SIPO and for the prosecuting authorities but we won’t be complying with this instruction. Again, to be clear, if this was about us returning $10 we wouldn’t be complying.’
Mr O’Gorman insisted Amnesty was taking the stance because current laws restrict charities and civil liberties groups’ ability to function properly.
Cora Sherlock, of the Pro Life Campaign, said: ‘The statement from Amnesty is nothing more than a public relations exercise to disguise the fact they have been receiving vast sums of money from abroad to fund their campaign to repeal the Eighth Amendment. Amnesty are behaving like they are above the law.’
SIPO has refused to comment on the specific situation, but says that it is in charge of enforcing the legislation.