Two men who were arrested over the murder of Constable Stephen Carroll in Craigavon, Co Armagh, earlier this month were today released without charge.
The men, aged 31 and 27, have been questioned by police for seven days about the murder of PC Carroll (48) in Craigavon, Co Armagh.
Five other people arrested for questioning about the murder, and four detained over the murders of two soldiers - Sappers Patrick Azimkar (21), from London, and Mark Quinsey (23), from Birmingham - 48 hours before PC Carroll’s murder remain in custody.
Earlier today, Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams said suspects held in relation to the dissident republican murders of members of the security forces in the North should be charged or released.
Mr Adams said: “There are currently a number of people, including a 17-year-old juvenile, being detained by the PSNI for periods extending beyond human rights best practice. This is not acceptable. They should either be charged now or released.”
He added that, regardless of suspected activity, people enjoyed basic human rights. “If there is evidence which exists against somebody, then that person should be charged and the evidence put before the courts,” he said.
“If no such evidence exists then that person should be released. That is the democratic standard which must be adhered to.”
The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission was tonight granted permission to visit Antrim Police Station where all the suspects are being held. The commission said it was concerned at the length of pre-charge detention and wished to inspect the conditions in which detainees were being held.
PC Carroll was shot in Craigavon, Co Armagh, by the Continuity IRA. The two soldiers were killed by the Real IRA as they collected a pizza delivery at the Massereene Barracks in Antrim.
A Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) spokeswoman said: “The police service does not create legislation - we enforce the law as it is enacted.
“When investigating any crime we will use all legal means to bring those responsible before the courts. This we do in compliance with European human rights legislation.”
The North’s Deputy First Minister of Sinn Féin Martin McGuinness said today there was only one side for people to take in response to the killings.
“Where you have a situation where people are determined to destroy a peace process and a political process so painstakingly built over so many years, then when you are asked to take sides there’s only one side to take and that has to be peace and democracy and that is what this chamber is about,” he said.
“That is what these institutions which we are part of are about and there’s overwhelming support for that in the chamber, overwhelmingly people reject any return to the old days.
“Parents are concerned about their children’s future and how they move forward. We are charged with the responsibility to lead the political process.”
He blamed the violence on small groups of young people. “They have no prospect of success. Their actions, whilst deadly and causing an awful lot of grief and hardship to families, are absolutely futile and have no prospect of success.
“The big story in the US, and I think the big story here on this island of Ireland, is the way in which all of the politicians of this house . . . came together to send a very strong message that we are not going to be divided, that we are not going to be deflected.”
He said there was only one community, which he represented, and vowed to oppose those wanting to plunge it into mayhem. “The people who carried out the act or acts did so wondering how Sinn Féin would respond to it, immediately hoping it would create huge difficulties for Sinn Fein or also to the victims.”
He said they had received their answer.
PA