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SF loses legal bid on sanctions

Gerry Kelly - Insists IMC outside terms of Good Friday Agreement
Gerry Kelly - Insists IMC outside terms of Good Friday Agreement

Sinn Féin has lost a legal bid to overturn financial sanctions imposed on it by the British government.

The High Court in Belfast refused the party permission for a judicial review of the decision to penalise it more than £100,000 last year.

The Northern Ireland Secretary, Paul Murphy, withdrew funding from Sinn Féin's Assembly party last April.

Mr Murphy's move followed a report from the Independent Monitoring Commission which highlighted the level of paramilitary activity by both the IRA and loyalists, and recommended sanctions against Sinn Féin and the PUP.

Outside the court, Gerry Kelly of Sinn Féin branded the ruling political and said the IMC was outside the Good Friday Agreement.