Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams has been released following 4 days of detention at the hands of the Police Service of Northern Ireland following his arrest in connection with the murder of Jean McConville in 1972.
Adams’s colleagues and supporters were adamant that he has nothing to answer for, and that the arrest and subsequent questioning was politically motivated. Adams is unlikely to face charges, the Associated Press reports.
A senior police officer spoke to Associated Press on condition he not be identified by name because he was not authorised to disclose the decision before its official announcement.
Police faced a Sunday deadline to charge or release Adams or seek a judge’s permission to extend his detention, a step they took Friday when an initial deadline was due to expire.
The IRA abducted, killed and secretly buried McConville. It did not admit responsibility until 1999, when the underground organisation defended its action by claiming she had been a British Army spy. McConville’s remains were found accidentally in 2003 near a Republic of Ireland beach. A 2006 investigation by Northern Ireland’s police complaints watchdog found no evidence she had been a spy.
A PSNI spokesman said: “A 65 year old man arrested by detectives from PSNI’s Serious Crime Branch investigating the abduction and murder of Jean McConville in 1972 on Wednesday 30th April has been released pending a report to the PPS.”
AP contributed to this report
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