A 40-year-old man who has denied murdering the prominent Belfast solicitor Mr Pat Finucane 14 years ago has claimed that he is being used as a "scapegoat".
Mr Finucane was shot dead in front of his wife and three children at his north Belfast home.
Mr Ken Barrett, who is unemployed, appeared before Belfast Magistrates' Court yesterday, where he also faced a number of other serious charges. In a statement to police, he described himself as a "scapegoat" and "the subject of state victimisation".
Mr Barrett was arrested at his home in Essex on Wednesday and flown back to Northern Ireland. His arrest followed a year-long undercover surveillance operation in England.
A PSNI detective inspector yesterday told the court that new evidence had come to light in the past two years - namely through a BBC Panorama interview and by way of two covert police operations in England.
Det Insp Hilary Warnock said: "Mr Barrett has made certain comments to officers involved in the undercover operation." She said that when Mr Barrett was charged at Antrim police station on Thursday night he had replied "not guilty" to all charges.
Det Insp Brian Tarpey, a member of the Stevens inquiry team, said evidence had been collected over several months. "There were two separate covert operations, the first in February 2002 and the second authorised at the end of last year."
The court heard that detectives had decided to carry out their surveillance following a BBC Panorama programme in January 2002, in which Mr Barrett featured.
Defence solicitor Mr Joe Rice challenged police over the delay in putting the charges to his client.
Mr Barrett is also charged with the attempted murders of Mr Thomas McCreery and Ms Elizabeth McEvoy on January 17th, 1991.
He is further charged with stealing guns from the Ulster Defence Regiment armoury on January 31st, 1989, and with membership of the UDA and UFF, on or before May 29th, 2003.
His solicitor, Mr Rice, said that he denied all the charges.
Mr Barrett was remanded in custody until June 27th.
Mr Rice said that an application for bail to the High Court would be lodged by his legal team within days.