Clemency Pleas
Following the initial withdrawal of David Norris from the 2011 presidential campaign after it was revealed that Norris had sought clemency for his former partner from a statutory rape conviction, it was subsequently pointed out that Mitchell had also sought clemency for a convict, in his case for Army of God member and double-murderer Paul Jennings Hill, a fact that had been public knowledge for eight years.
On March 22, 2002 Amina Lawal was sentenced her to death by stoning for adultery and for conceiving a child out of wedlock, as chair of the Oireachtas European Affairs Committee, Mr Mitchell met with the Nigerian ambassador to Ireland to protest the sentence at the time.
Another convict Mitchell sought clemency for was Louis Truesdale, who was convicted in 1980 of the rape and murder of 18-year-old Rebecca Ann Eudy. The victim's mother, Evelyn Eudy said that she "was appalled to hear Mr Mitchell was running as a presidential candidate in Ireland". According to newspaper reports when he was questioned about these letters on the 27th August 2011, he "became quite incensed" and revealed that he has written "a number" of clemency pleas.
Read more about this topic: Gay Mitchell
Famous quotes containing the words clemency and/or pleas:
“The clemency of princes is very often only a state-trick, to gain upon the affections of their subjects.”
—François, Duc De La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680)
“John Eliot came to preach to the Podunks in 1657, translated the Bible into their language, but made little progress in aboriginal soul-saving. The Indians answered his pleas with: ‘No, you have taken away our lands, and now you wish to make us a race of slaves.’”
—Administration for the State of Con, U.S. public relief program. Connecticut: A Guide to Its Roads, Lore, and People (The WPA Guide to Connecticut)