Public Pressure Forces Re-opening of MacRae Case:
Demand a Public Inquiry Now
Willie MacRae
saorsa media release, 17 Jan 2011
A spokesman for socialist republican group Saorsa today cautiously welcomed the news that public pressure has forced the Crown Office to re-open the case of Willie MacRae, but demanded that it the process is subject to a full public inquiry.
Speaking in Inverness Sean Mac Micheal stated, “Whilst we welcome the news that the MacRae case is to be re-opened following recent increasing pressure on the British Crown Office we want this process to be fully open and transparent. The only acceptable means of achieving this is through a full public inquiry”
“The reason that various people have not given up on this case and why it remains in the public eye is entirely due to the many
unanswered questions which have been repeatedly dismissed by the British authorities.”
“Given that British Crown Forces have since been involved in the assassination of Belfast lawyer Pat Finucane it is clear just what lengths the Thatcherite British state was prepared to go to in order to silence it’s internal enemies.”
Dismissing the prospects for further internal police inquiries into the case Mr Mac Michael continued: “If this were the case in what
can only be described as a mysterious death, then it is evident that elements of Northern Constabulary have been involved in
covering up the truth for the past 25 years”
“It is therefore unacceptable for them to be leading any new investigations in 2011 when it was their actions and failure to
properly investigate which have allowed this situation to fester for 25 years”
Mr Mac Micheal concluded, “We call upon the Scottish Government to do what should have been done in 1985 and instigate a full public
inquiry to get to the truth of what happened to Willie MacRae, only then can his memory be put to rest.”
[ENDS]
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BACKGROUND INFO
Some of the Suspicious Circumstances
• Willie MacRae was found unconscious in his car, some distance from the road, on the morning of 6 April 1985. He never recovered.
• During the recovery of MacRae and his vehicle nobody found a gun, nor noticed a gunshot.
• MacRae's gun, with which he was said to have shot himself, was found over 24 hours later over 20 yards from the crash site, two
bullets had been fired. The Lord Advocate would later claim that the gun was found beneath the door of the car, but this was
contradicted by the policeman who found the gun, and by those involved in recovering MacRae from his car.
• A small pile of shredded receipts, a credit card and watch were found 15 yards from the crash site.
• He had planned to spend the weekend at his holiday home in Dornie working on a forthcoming book on the nuclear industry. The papers
he was working on have never been recovered.
• MacRae is reported to have stated to friends shortly beforehand that, "I've got them" without releasing any details of who, or
what, he had got.
• A list of three car number plates alleged to have been following MacRae prior to his death was supplied to a BBC journalist. One
apparently didn't exist and another was a 'blocked vehicle' from one of the secret services.
Much of the above claims can at best only be described as circumstantial. But in a matter where there is no hard and fast
evidence, e.g. no suicide note, then such evidence is all we have to go on. Whether the real story of what happened that night is
ever known will remain to be seen. However we believe that all of these questions, and much more, can be addressed in the course of
any impartial public inquiry.
Source: MacRae Inquiry
A spokesman for socialist republican group Saorsa today cautiously welcomed the news that public pressure has forced the Crown Office to re-open the case of Willie MacRae, but demanded that it the process is subject to a full public inquiry.
Speaking in Inverness Sean Mac Micheal stated, “Whilst we welcome the news that the MacRae case is to be re-opened following recent increasing pressure on the British Crown Office we want this process to be fully open and transparent. The only acceptable means of achieving this is through a full public inquiry”
“The reason that various people have not given up on this case and why it remains in the public eye is entirely due to the many
unanswered questions which have been repeatedly dismissed by the British authorities.”
“Given that British Crown Forces have since been involved in the assassination of Belfast lawyer Pat Finucane it is clear just what lengths the Thatcherite British state was prepared to go to in order to silence it’s internal enemies.”
Dismissing the prospects for further internal police inquiries into the case Mr Mac Michael continued: “If this were the case in what
can only be described as a mysterious death, then it is evident that elements of Northern Constabulary have been involved in
covering up the truth for the past 25 years”
“It is therefore unacceptable for them to be leading any new investigations in 2011 when it was their actions and failure to
properly investigate which have allowed this situation to fester for 25 years”
Mr Mac Micheal concluded, “We call upon the Scottish Government to do what should have been done in 1985 and instigate a full public
inquiry to get to the truth of what happened to Willie MacRae, only then can his memory be put to rest.”
[ENDS]
***************************************************************
BACKGROUND INFO
Some of the Suspicious Circumstances
• Willie MacRae was found unconscious in his car, some distance from the road, on the morning of 6 April 1985. He never recovered.
• During the recovery of MacRae and his vehicle nobody found a gun, nor noticed a gunshot.
• MacRae's gun, with which he was said to have shot himself, was found over 24 hours later over 20 yards from the crash site, two
bullets had been fired. The Lord Advocate would later claim that the gun was found beneath the door of the car, but this was
contradicted by the policeman who found the gun, and by those involved in recovering MacRae from his car.
• A small pile of shredded receipts, a credit card and watch were found 15 yards from the crash site.
• He had planned to spend the weekend at his holiday home in Dornie working on a forthcoming book on the nuclear industry. The papers
he was working on have never been recovered.
• MacRae is reported to have stated to friends shortly beforehand that, "I've got them" without releasing any details of who, or
what, he had got.
• A list of three car number plates alleged to have been following MacRae prior to his death was supplied to a BBC journalist. One
apparently didn't exist and another was a 'blocked vehicle' from one of the secret services.
Much of the above claims can at best only be described as circumstantial. But in a matter where there is no hard and fast
evidence, e.g. no suicide note, then such evidence is all we have to go on. Whether the real story of what happened that night is
ever known will remain to be seen. However we believe that all of these questions, and much more, can be addressed in the course of
any impartial public inquiry.
Source: MacRae Inquiry