A SOLICITOR acting for a Derry man forced to flee his home after an INLA threat has said his client is not an informer.
The man, who is a long-standing member of the Irish Republican Socialist Movement (IRSM) in Derry, was forced to flee his home on Tuesday after receiving a paramilitary threat linked to an ongoing dispute.
In the days before he fled the man was the target of a social media campaign singling him out as an informer.
His solicitor Ciaran Shiels, of Madden and Finucane Solicitors, last night rubbished rumours his client was taken from his home by the security forces earlier this week.
It is understood he had earlier been given a deadline by the INLA to leave.
Mr Shiels said his client was innocent of the informer claims and revealed he witnessed him rejecting an attempt by PSNI officers to recruit him.
Earlier this month the man and his young son were lucky to escape death or serious injury after shots were fired into his home at Joyce Court, in the Ballymagroarty area.
The 44-year-old was arrested last week by police investigating offences linked to the INLA and a suspected show of strength following the circulation of a video on social media earlier this year. He was later released unconditionally.
On the day of his release a 64-year-old man, believed to be a senior member of the IRSM, was arrested in the Strabane area in connection with the same matter. He was also later released.
The Irish News understands the man who fled his home and several other former members of the IRSM in Derry have been told by police they are under threat.
It is believed that tensions within the IRSM have risen in recent weeks after a large number of members resigned when a prominent figure was expelled from the movement.
Mr Shiels said his client was arrested for one single offence of membership of the INLA, which he denied.
He said the arrest, which took place at 6.30pm, later involved three short interviews during which no evidence was put to his client.
The solicitor revealed that he had stayed with his client at all times during his detention but that police officers approached him to be an informer when he was taken to another room to be finger printed.
He said his client rejected the initial approach, which was followed with a second while the solicitor was present.
"The officer expressed safety for the concern of my client and then asked him to assist them," he explained.
"My client said clearly 'you are not going to get the answer you want, I would rather sleep with wolves than have anything to do with you people'.
"He made his position clear."
Mr Shiels said after his client rebuffed the approaches "the police carried out a raid and arrest of a senior veteran of the IRSM".
Mr Shiels confirmed he intends to "raise the matter with the Police Ombudsman".
A spokeswoman for the PSNI said: "We do not discuss the security of individuals and no inference should be drawn from this.
"However, if we receive information that a person’s life may be at risk we will inform them accordingly.
"We never ignore anything which may put an individual at risk."
