CELEBRITY human rights lawyer Amal Clooney will represent Ireland’s ‘Hooded Men’ in a landmark court case.
The world renowned solicitor, who recently married Hollywood actor George Clooney, will be one of a team of legal professionals representing 11 men in a legal action against the British government.
The Irish government announced in December that it was to take further action against Britain over the treatment of the ‘Hooded Men’ – whose case first came to light in the 1970s.
It is alleged that in 1971, at the height of the Troubles in the North of Ireland, 14 men were held indefinitely by British forces without trial and subjected to a range of controversial torture techniques.
The men claim they were deprived of food, sleep and water during their incarceration.
The Irish state first brought the case to the attention of the European Court of Human Rights in 1976, where the complaint was upheld but later overturned on appeal.
The ruling at that time was that the ‘Hooded Men’ had been subjected to inhumane and degrading treatment, but not torture.
Mrs Clooney will be one of a team of lawyers from London, Dublin and Belfast to represent the men in the fresh case.
With a long and successful career to date, her addition to the team has been seen as a welcome move.
The Irish government decided to reopen the case after fresh evidence was uncovered in London last year, where an RTÉ documentary shed new light on the matter.
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