Courts / Louth / Report

Defence lawyers waving data protection laws like 'garlic at a vampire', IS trial told

Summary

In the Special Criminal Court, counsel for the State, Sean Gillane SC, defended the use of Facebook messages as admissible evidence in the trial of Lisa Smith, a 40‑year‑old from Dundalk charged with membership in the Islamic State and financing terrorism. Gillane argued that the Data Protection Act does not render privacy rights absolute and that Gardaí acted lawfully when they obtained a warrant to seize Facebook messages exchanged between Smith and known Islamist terrorists in Australia and Syria. He noted that the messages were initially provided by U.S. authorities investigating John Georgelas, a Smith associate, and later seized from Facebook's Dublin headquarters under an Irish warrant. Gillane maintained that the evidence was gathered on a police‑to‑police basis, that Facebook's retention of data was not directed by the State, and that the right to privacy must be weighed against the context of the investigation. The court will decide the application on Tuesday. Lisa Smith pleaded not guilty.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Defence lawyers waving data protection laws like 'garlic at a vampire', IS trial told. Charges or matters: membership of an unlawful terrorist group, Islamic State, between October 28th, 2015 and December 1st, 2019; financing terrorism by sending €800 in assistance, via a Western Union money transfer, to a named man on May 6th, 2015. Procedural stage: trial

When:

• October 28th, 2015 Other
• December 1st, 2019 Other
• May 6th, 2015 Other
• 2022-03-03 Publication

Why: Responding today, Mr Gillane said it has become a common feature of trials that when a prosecutor says there is evidence of the planning or execution of a crime on CCTV, mobile phones, email or social media, "the Data Protection Act is waved like garlic at a vampire to say you can't rely on that evidence because of some right to privacy. Prosecution account reported by CNI

Case subjects

Places mentioned

Topics

Stage Trial

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Read the original CNI report