Sinn Féin gives 'prisoner flights' dossier to gardaí

Sinn Féin will present gardaí with a dossier of evidence today on US rendition flights passing through Shannon Airport.

The party’s justice spokesman Aengus O Snodaigh has backed the claims of anti-war activists that CIA aircraft carrying hostages to interrogation camps are refuelling at the mid-west hub.

The Government said it had accepted repeated assurances from US authorities that nothing untoward was taking place at Shannon.

Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern has called on anybody with credible evidence of criminal activity to pass it on to the gardaí.

A report compiled for the Council of Europe yesterday revealed that gardaí forwarded two files to the Director of Public Prosecutions since 2004, but no action was deemed necessary.

Mr O Snodaigh said: “The practice of ’extraordinary rendition’ violates a range of fundamental human rights.

“Given the government’s insistence on further evidence before they will act to uphold human rights, it is imperative that the Garda Siochana search all US planes landing at Shannon or elsewhere in Ireland.

“For this reason I am bringing this dossier of evidence to gardai and asking them to do their job and investigate the evidence."