Undercover officers should not act like James Bond, UN expert says
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| Quote: Maina Kiai called for a judge-led public inquiry to be set up into the actions of Mr Kennedy and others, saying the use of undercover officers in non-violent protest groups had left a trail of victims in its wake and was “unacceptable in a democracy”. The warning comes after a group of people who claim they were tricked into forming relationships with undercover police officers were told last week that they can go ahead with a High Court damages claim. Some of the claimants say they had relationships with Mr Kennedy, who was exposed in 2011 after spending seven years posing as a long-haired dropout to spy on environmental activists. Mr Kiai, the UN special rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, said: “You simply can't go ahead and pay people to go off and have relationships and families with people and then disappear. “Surely it is not the best use of taxpayers' money, is it? “That to me is unacceptable - completely. That is what you see in a banana republic. | |
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