Former Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams (C) Friday won $113,486 in a defamation lawsuit against the BBC. A BBC documentary had reported allegations that Adams had sanctioned the killing of former Sinn Fein official and British intelligence agent Denis Donaldson. File Photo by Roger L. Wollenberg/UPI | License Photo
Former Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams Friday won $113,486 in a defamation lawsuit against the BBC.
Adams claimed in court that the BBC defamed him in a documentary and online article that said Adams had sanctioned the murder of former Sinn Fein official Denis Donaldson.
After the courtroom win, Adams said, “The British Broadcasting Corporation upholds the ethos of the British state in Ireland, and in my view it’s out of sync in many, many fronts with the Good Friday agreement. It hasn’t caught on to where we are on this island as part of the process, the continuing process, of building peace and justice, and harmony, and, hopefully, in the time ahead, unity.”
The BBC maintained it acted in good faith and the Donaldson death claim was presented as an allegation and not as fact.
But attorneys for Adams said it was “reckless journalism” and an “unjustified” attack on a man credited with helping advance the peace process in Ireland.
They called the BBC report a “hatchet job” and a “grievous smear.”
Adams denies any role in Donaldson’s murder.
Donaldson was killed by a point-blank shotgun blast months after he admitted during a 2005 press conference with Adams that he had been a British intelligence agent with Sinn Fein and the IRA for over 10 years.
The BBC said the allegation it reported regarding Donaldson’s killing was corroborated by five other sources.
But jurors rejected the BBC defense that its reporting of the allegations was “fair, reasonable and in the public interest.”
BBC Northern Ireland director Adam Smyth said outside court after the verdict, “We are disappointed by this verdict. We believe we supplied extensive evidence to the court of the careful editorial processes and journalistic diligence applied to this program, and to the accompanying online article.”
Adams led Sinn Fein from 1983-2018 but denies ever belonging to the IRA.
