The credibility of FBI agent and "supergrass" David Rupert was central to the prosecution case against convicted Real IRA leader Michael McKevitt, the Court of Criminal Appeal was told yesterday.
McKevitt (54), of Beech Park, Blackrock, Co Louth, was jailed for 20 years by the Special Criminal Court in August 2003 after he was convicted of directing the activities of a terrorist organisation between August 29th, 1999, and October 23rd, 2000. He was the first person to be convicted in the State for the offence, which was introduced after the Real IRA bomb attack in Omagh in 1998 in which 29 people died.
McKevitt also received a six-year concurrent prison sentence for membership of an illegal organisation - the Real IRA.
Yesterday the three-judge CCA began hearing McKevitt's appeal against conviction. The hearing is expected to last four days. McKevitt was in court for the appeal, which was also attended by his wife, Bernadette Sands McKevitt.
McKevitt's senior counsel, Hugh Hartnett, said there were 42 grounds of appeal. He said the case against McKevitt had relied exclusively on the evidence of David Rupert, an American who was a paid agent of two security services, the British Security Service and the FBI. Mr Rupert's background, credibility and veracity were central to the prosecution case against McKevitt.
Mr Hartnett said David Rupert's evidence was that he had been in Ireland throughout the 1990s, had fallen in with people with republican sympathies, had become acquainted with McKevitt and had become a member of the army council of an unlawful organisation of which McKevitt was the director.
Mr Hartnett said that at every stage questions arose in relation to Mr Rupert's credibility, background and veracity and these were clearly of concern to the defence.
Counsel submitted that significant areas of disclosure about Mr Rupert's past, including his tax affairs, his criminality and payments made to him by the FBI had been sought by the defence but had not been provided. A statement by a New York state trooper had described Mr Rupert as a lifelong criminal, drugs smuggler and a smuggler of arms and explosives. The defence was interested as to why, on two occasions in 1974 and 1994, when Mr Rupert was under investigation for various offences, he had on both occasions been recruited by the FBI as an agent.
Assistant Garda Commissioner Dermot Jennings had indicated that Mr Rupert had told lies and that he had taken a particular view of him, counsel added. Mr Rupert had settled a $750,000 tax bill with the US authorities for $25,000 and it would appear there was some involvement by the security services in that.
Mr Hartnett also said documents provided by the British Security Service referred to Mr Rupert's "trickiness" and the defence wanted to know what this referred to. Mr Hartnett said there had been a significant failure of disclosure that had tainted the whole trial and the lack of fair procedure led everyone into confusion.
The CCA was yesterday given the unedited documents from the FBI that had been seen by the judges at the Special Criminal Court trial. Assistant Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan handed the seven documents to the judges and after they read them in their chambers, they were returned to his custody.