Heidi Hazell (IRA murder victim)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Heidi Hazell (24 September 1962 – 7 September 1989) was a
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...
citizen,
murdered Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the c ...
by the
Provisional Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, facilitate Irish reun ...
(IRA). The investigation into the murder of the German citizen was reopened in March 2015. The German Federal Attorney may not regard the
Good Friday Agreement The Good Friday Agreement (GFA), or Belfast Agreement ( ga, Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta or ; Ulster-Scots: or ), is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April 1998 that ended most of the violence of The Troubles, a political conflict in No ...
as relevant in terms of reduced prison terms for IRA members. The murder of Hazell, a German citizen, took place in Germany and the country is not legally bound by the agreement between the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
and
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
.


Background

Heidi Hazell was born in
Worpswede Worpswede (Northern Low Saxon: ''Worpsweed'') is a municipality in the Osterholz-Scharmbeck, district of Osterholz, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated in the Teufelsmoor, northeast of Bremen (city), Bremen. The small town itself is located n ...
,
West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
, as Heidi Schnaars. In 1986, she married a British soldier stationed in the country. On 7 September 1989, in
Unna Unna is a city of around 59,000 people in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the seat of the Unna district. The newly refurbished Unna station has trains to all major cities in North Rhine Westphalia including Dortmund, Cologne, Münster, Hamm, D ...
near
Dortmund Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the la ...
, Hazell was sitting in the family car at her home. The car was approached by a member of the
Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various paramilitary organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dedicated to irredentism through Irish republicanism, the belief tha ...
(IRA) in British Army battle dress, who opened fire with a Kalashnikov automatic weapon, shooting her over a dozen times. The gunman got into a car driven by another person and drove away.
British Prime Minister The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern p ...
Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...
described the murder of Hazell as "evil and cowardly". Speaking during a visit to
Forres Academy Forres Academy is a comprehensive community school serving the town of Forres, Scotland, and its rural catchment area in west Moray. Similar to other Scottish schools pupils are able to leave after the fourth year of schooling, therefore fifth and ...
, she said: "Let this message get across:
Terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
s don't hesitate to attack wives and children, people who are totally innocent. That shows the evil nature of the work they do." The
Generalbundesanwalt The Public Prosecutor General at the Federal Court of Justice (german: Generalbundesanwalt or ''Generalbundesanwältin beim Bundesgerichtshof'' (GBA), lit.: "General Federal Attorney at the Federal Court of Justice") is the federal prosecutor of ...
investigated against five individuals, known to be involved in
terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
activity, amongst which was
Dessie Grew Desmond "Dessie" Grew (14 September 1953 – 9 October 1990) was a volunteer in the East Tyrone Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). Grew was killed by undercover Special Air Service soldiers in County Armagh in 1990 along wi ...
. The investigation against Grew was closed upon his death on 9 October 1990. It was the second IRA attack in West Germany that week, a previous one resulting in two British soldiers shot near
Münster Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state distr ...
. In a statement released in
Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
the following day, the IRA said:
An IRA
Active Service Unit An active service unit (ASU; ) was a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) cell of four to ten members, tasked with carrying out armed attacks. In 2002, the IRA had about 1,000 active members of which about 300 were in active service units. T ...
carried out last night's shooting in West Germany. The woman killed was believed to have been a member of the
British Crown Forces British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
garrison A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mil ...
ed in Dortmund. It has now emerged that she was the German wife of a British Army staff
sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...
. As we intend continuing our campaign until the British Army withdraws from Ireland, the outcome of last night's attack reinforces a warning we gave on Aug. 2, 1988, for civilians to stay well clear of British military personnel. This warning applies to the use of vehicles personally belonging to British soldiers and all modes of military transport.
Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gri ...
President
Gerry Adams Gerard Adams ( ga, Gearóid Mac Ádhaimh; born 6 October 1948) is an Irish republican politician who was the president of Sinn Féin between 13 November 1983 and 10 February 2018, and served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for Louth from 2011 to 2020 ...
responded to civilians that had been recently killed by the IRA, such as Hazell, husband and wife James and Ellen Sefton, Islania Niurati the six-month-old child of a British soldier in Germany, and teenager Terry Love, saying:
There can be no doubt where Sinn Fein stands on actions which lead to the deaths of civilians or injuries to civilians. I don't want to see anyone killed, much less a 19-year-old soldier, an Australian citizen or an Irish citizen, but there is a conflict. There is a war going on. People join armies to fight.


Campaign of Melanie Anan

Melanie Anan, the niece of Hazell, started campaigning for justice, she inquired with witnesses and spoke to the
Police Service of Northern Ireland The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI; ga, Seirbhís Póilíneachta Thuaisceart Éireann; Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster-Scots: ') is the police, police force that serves Northern Ireland. It is the successor to the Royal Ulster Constabu ...
. On 9 March 2015, she spoke at the European Day for Victims of Terrorism at Stormont Parliament. "Mrs Anan told the event that she finds it shocking that, in Northern Ireland, convicted terrorists are elected to government." On 16 March 2015, Anan wrote an open letter to
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
, which was subsequently published by the unionist newspaper ''
Belfast Telegraph The ''Belfast Telegraph'' is a daily newspaper published in Belfast, Northern Ireland, by Independent News & Media. Its editor is Eoin Brannigan. Reflecting its unionist tradition, the paper has historically been "favoured by the Protestant po ...
''. Turning to the President's relationship with Sinn Fein, Anan urged Obama to distance himself. "As we have been doing our research and inquiries as a family, we came across a picture of you and
Gerry Adams Gerard Adams ( ga, Gearóid Mac Ádhaimh; born 6 October 1948) is an Irish republican politician who was the president of Sinn Féin between 13 November 1983 and 10 February 2018, and served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for Louth from 2011 to 2020 ...
; centered in the picture, Rita O'Hare, a wanted woman in
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
, as she shot a soldier in Northern Ireland," she wrote. On 16 March 2015, Adams was denied entry into the
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
to celebrate
St Patrick’s Day Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick ( ga, Lá Fhéile Pádraig, lit=the Day of the Festival of Patrick), is a cultural and religious celebration held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (), the foremost pat ...
.


Reopening of investigation into murder

The
Generalbundesanwalt The Public Prosecutor General at the Federal Court of Justice (german: Generalbundesanwalt or ''Generalbundesanwältin beim Bundesgerichtshof'' (GBA), lit.: "General Federal Attorney at the Federal Court of Justice") is the federal prosecutor of ...
, German Federal Attorney reopened the investigation into the murder of Hazell in March 2015.Murder inquiry reopen
"Murder inquiry reopens"
''
BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...
'', UK, 8 April 2015. Retrieved on 9 April 2015.
New evidence introduced to the authorities led to the decision to reopen the case, which had been closed in 1993.


See also

*
Killings of Nick Spanos and Stephen Melrose Nick Spanos and Stephen Melrose were Australian tourists shot dead in Roermond, the Netherlands by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) on 27 May 1990, which stated it had mistaken them for off-duty British soldiers. The attack was par ...
*
Osnabrück mortar attack The Osnabrück mortar attack was an improvised mortar attack carried out by a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) unit based in mainland Europe on 28 June 1996 against the British Army's Quebec Barracks at Osnabrück Garrison near Osnabr ...
*
Chronology of Provisional Irish Republican Army actions (1980–89) Chronologies of Provisional Irish Republican Army actions detail activities by the Provisional Irish Republican Army, an Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland and bring about an independent ...


References


External links

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hazell, Heidi 1989 murders in Germany Deaths by firearm in Germany Deaths by person in Germany German murder victims Murder in North Rhine-Westphalia People killed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army Provisional Irish Republican Army actions in continental Europe September 1989 crimes September 1989 events in Europe Terrorist incidents in Germany in 1989 Terrorist incidents in North Rhine-Westphalia