Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams questioned in connection with 1972 murder

Gerry Adams is being questioned in connection to the 1972 murder of Jean McConville, a mother of 10 who was abducted by a dozen Provisional IRA members and shot in the head. Her body was discovered at a Lough beach in 2003. Adams is currently the leader of Sinn Féin, the second largest political party in Northern Ireland.

Adams was a key figure in "The Troubles" in Northern Ireland and the peace process afterward. Over the last 15 years Gerry Adams has attempted something of public-image rehabilitation. But his activities as leader of "the psychotic IRA division in Belfast" have not been forgotten. He has been accused of sanctioning a series of terrorist attacks in London in the 1970s. And over the last two years, released testimony of several IRA members — including former Belfast commander Brendan Hughes — have named Adams as the one who ordered the murder and secret burial of Jean McConville in 1972.

Adams is only in custody for questioning at this point, and he released a statement asserting his innocence: "While I have never disassociated myself from the IRA and I never will, I am innocent of any part in the abduction, killing, or burial of Mrs. McConville."

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Sinn Féin has been doing very well in recent polling heading into an election. Read the rest of the story in The Irish Times.