The family of murdered Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane has called upon the British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland to reveal details of an expected inquiry into his death "as soon as possible."
It is widely believed that the British government will announce an inquiry, the family having been told by Secretary of State Owen Patterson that an announcement would be made following the recent Assembly elections.
However, the family of Pat Finucane, who was shot by loyalists at his home in 1989, said they were currently unaware what form the process will take. the slain attorney's brother Seamus told the Irish Echo that the family was "unhappy" at being left in the dark while awaiting word from the British, who he claimed leaked information on a possible announcement to see how people would respond.
"It's an untenable situation for our family at the moment, and has evoked a lot of bad memories as we have been left hanging," he said.
"We think it is very insensitive how this is being handled, so I would call on Owen Paterson to give us details as soon as possible."
Paterson told the family back in March that the announcement would take place post-election, but they have yet to receive official confirmation of the decision.
"We believe they leaked this info to judge the response, so we can't really say we welcome this as there has been no formal announcement," Seamus Finucane added.
Former Secretary of State, Paul Murphy, had previously announced an intention to hold an inquiry into the murder back in 2004 under the Inquiries Act; however the family opposes a probe under this legislation, claiming it would be accountable only to the minister responsible, rather than to parliament.
The Finucane case has been one of the longest-running and most controversial murder cases in the history of the North, this given the connections between British security and intelligence services with the loyalist gang who carried out the killing.
