A dissident republican whose alleged abduction lead to the latest crisis in the Northern Ireland peace process has appeared in court charged with making a threat to kill.
Mr Bobby Tohill (46), from Bombay Street, west Belfast, was also charged with possession of a firearm with intent, and attempting to enter the home of a man to commit grievous bodily harm.
Belfast Magistrates' Court heard the charges relate to an incident at Divis Tower in March when Mr Tohill allegedly threatened to kill Mr Patrick Ward. Mr Ward has since made two retraction statements
In February, Mr Tohill was rescued from the back of a van in Belfast by PSNI patrol. He had allegedly been abducted from a bar by a gang of men and severely beaten. Four men have been charged in connection with the attack, despite the fact that Mr Tohill refused to make a complaint to police.
Both the PSNI Chief Constable, Mr Hugh Orde, and the Independent Monitoring Commission blamed the Provisional IRA. The Provisionals and Sinn Fein denied they had authorised the attack.
He claimed today he was the victim of a political conspiracy.
A detective sergeant told a defence lawyer the decision to charge Mr Tohill was not related to his failure to make a statement of complaint about the alleged abduction.
Mr Tohill stormed out of the dock, saying, "I'm not listening to this, it's a set-up, a political frame-up". He was remanded in custody to appear by video link later this month.