Nama trial over alleged attempt to ‘subvert rules of procedure at Stormont Committee' gets underway
A trial centring on an alleged attempt to 'subvert the rules of procedure of a Stormont Committee' commenced in Belfast today.
Almost a decade after the alleged offences were committed, the long-awaited Nama non-jury trial was opened.
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BBC News
4 days ago
- BBC News
Nama trial: Ex-Sinn Fein worker says he was Jamie Bryson go-between
A former Sinn Féin election worker for Daithí McKay has told a court he was "used" as a go-between to send secret messages to loyalist activist Jamie O'Hara told Belfast Crown Court he thought the plan was "mad" as Mr Bryson was "not the biggest lover of the Shinners", but went along with it in September said Mr McKay, who was chair of Stormont's Finance Committee at the time, assured him there was "nothing criminal" about passing on the McKay, Mr O'Hara and Mr Bryson deny charges related to misconduct in public office and have been on trial for the past three weeks. The case centres on a meeting of the Finance Committee on 23 September 2015, at which Mr Bryson gave evidence about how Northern Ireland property loans were handled by the National Asset Management Agency, known as prosecution say the procedural rules of the committee were is alleged that a series of direct messages exchanged on Twitter before the meeting were evidence of a Bryson has admitted sending a series of private messages to the accounts of Mr McKay and Mr O'Hara but insisted he did not break any laws. 'Daithí McKay asked me for a favour' Mr O'Hara, who gave evidence for the first time to the court on Tuesday, insisted he was simply a conduit between Mr McKay and Mr Bryson, copying and pasting messages from one to the other."I just done what I was asked," he told the court."He (Mr McKay) said to me: 'Don't worry about it, it's nothing that serious, it's nothing criminal.'" Mr O'Hara, 40, from Lisnahunshin Road, Cullybackey, is a self-employed plasterer who lives with his mother. He told the court he has dyslexia and left school at 16 with no joined Sinn Féin in 2006 and said he had helped Mr McKay when he was an MLA by working in his constituency, canvassing and putting up election 2015, he said Mr McKay rang him and asked for a "favour", copying and pasting messages to and from Jamie court was told that private messages on Twitter had previously been directly exchanged between Mr Bryson and Mr McKay, but then Mr O'Hara became involved. 'I think he used me' It is alleged that Mr McKay told Mr Bryson to follow Mr O'Hara's Twitter account and they then exchanged a series of detailed messages before the committee meeting on 23 September court was told these included suggestions on how to present O'Hara was asked if he wrote the replied: "No, I didn't. Daithí McKay did."He was asked if he was worried that what he was doing was criminal."No, because he reassured me it wasn't," said Mr O' insisted he did not understand the messages he was passing on as they had "too many big words". Asked if he still regarded Mr McKay as one of his friends, he said: "No, I do not. I think he used me."Mr O'Hara denies a charge of conspiracy to commit misconduct in public court was told by a psychologist who assessed Mr O'Hara that he has an extremely low IQ and a reading age of the view of the psychologist, it was "very unlikely" that Mr O'Hara composed the messages sent from his account to Mr Bryson. All evidence now heard The non-jury trial, in front of Judge Gordon Kerr KC, began last Bryson, 35, from Rosepark, Donaghadee denies a charge of conspiracy to commit misconduct in public McKay, 43, from Loughan Road, Dunnamanagh, denies actual the committee meeting in 2015, Mr Bryson made an allegation about the then leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) Peter Robinson, which was later denied and described by the politician as "scurrilous".The prosecution say Mr Bryson and Mr McKay were involved in an attempt to undermine the rules of the committee, in order to cause "considerable political embarrassment" to a number of people including Mr in the trial, when Mr Bryson gave evidence, he said he was not aware that Mr O'Hara had been acting as an alleged "back channel" to Mr McKay. After Mr O'Hara had been cross-examined, the court was told Mr McKay would not be giving evidence in the trial has now been heard and the case has been re-listed for final submissions on Monday Kerr said he hopes to give his judgement by the end of June.
Belfast Telegraph
05-06-2025
- Belfast Telegraph
‘I had no agreement with Daithí McKay': Jamie Bryson takes the stand as defence case begins in Nama trial
Loyalist activist Jamie Bryson has told a court he 'absolutely, emphatically' had no agreement with former Sinn Féin MLA Daithí McKay over his appearance at a Stormont committee that sparked the so-called Nama trial.
The Guardian
28-05-2025
- The Guardian
Namibia pushes for German reparations on first genocide remembrance day
Namibia has observed its first genocide remembrance day, honouring the estimated 75,000 victims who were massacred by soldiers or forced into concentration camps during German colonial rule. Between 1904 and 1908, an estimated 65,000 Herero people and 10,000 Nama people were killed when the groups rejected colonial rule. It amounted to 80% and 50% of their respective populations at the time. Some of their skulls were taken to Germany for racist experiments and were stored in German hospitals, museums and universities for decades. Namibia's president, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, told a memorial event in the parliament's gardens on Wednesday that the government would continue to push for reparations from Germany. She said: 'We should find a degree of comfort in the fact that the German government has agreed that German troops committed a genocide against the … people of our land. 'We may not agree on the final quantum, but that is part of the complex negotiations we have been engaged in with the German government since 2013 … We must remain committed that as a nation, we shall soldier on until the ultimate conclusion is reached.' In 2021, Germany officially recognised the atrocities as a genocide and agreed to pay Namibia €1.1bn (then £940m) to fund development for the Herero and Nama. It said this was a gesture of 'reconciliation', but not compensation or reparations. Germany returned the skulls and other human remains to Namibia in 2011 and 2018. Descendants of genocide victims said this was not enough and called on the German government to negotiate with them directly. Germany ruled Namibia, then known as South West Africa, from 1884 to 1915, when it was taken over by South Africa during the first world war. It became independent in 1990. Between 1904 and 1908, German troops shot, tortured or drove tens of thousands of Herero and Nama people into the Kalahari desert to starve, after they rebelled against colonial rule. Their descendants are now politically marginalised. Germany's ambassador to Namibia, Thorsten Hutter, said in a speech at the memorial: 'It is a stark reminder of the pain and suffering that was inflicted by German imperial troops during the colonial era … We cannot change the past, but as the people who are living today, it is our responsibility to remember those atrocities that were committed.' He told the local newspaper the Namibian: 'I believe we are on a very good path to forge forward, which includes the issues of reconciliation.' Herero and Nama representatives said more people in Namibia and worldwide should learn about the genocide. Hoze Riruako, a Herero chief, said it was a precursor to the Holocaust, but 'people are not aware of what has happened here to the same level.' Last year, Namibia declared 28 May would be a genocide remembrance day and a public holiday. It was chosen as it was the day in 1907 when Germany decided to close its concentration camps after an international outcry. Agence France-Presse and Reuters contributed to this story
