Former Sinn Fein leader wins defamation lawsuit against BBC for 2016 program

By Aysu Bicer

LONDON (AA) — Gerry Adams, the former leader of the Irish republican and democratic socialist political party Sinn Fein, won a defamation case against the BBC on Friday, with the High Court in Dublin awarding him €100,000 ($135,000) in damages.

The 76-year-old filed the lawsuit in response to a 2016 episode of the BBC's Spotlight and an accompanying online article, which he claimed falsely accused him of sanctioning the murder of British informant Denis Donaldson.

Donaldson, 55, was killed in 2006 at a remote cottage near Glenties, County Donegal, months after it was revealed that he was a British agent.

During the civil trial, Adams argued that the Spotlight program was an "attempted hatchet job" that was "full of inaccuracies."

The broadcast featured an anonymous IRA source referred to as "Martin," who claimed that murders had to be approved by the political and military leadership of the IRA.

When asked to specify who this referred to, "Martin" replied: "Gerry Adams. He gives the final say."

Adams categorically denied the claim, calling it a "grievous smear." In court, he said he had "liked" Donaldson and was "shocked" to learn of his murder.

"Personally, I think Denis Donaldson was a victim of the conflict. I don't see any other way of describing it," he told the court.

The BBC denied defamation, maintaining that its journalism was responsible, based on careful investigation, and carried out in good faith on a matter of public and vital interest.