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{{Short description|2003 death in Wiesbaden, Germany}} | |||
{{nobots}} | |||
{{EngvarB|date=June 2017}} | |||
{{Infobox news event | |||
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}} | |||
|image= ] | |||
{{Infobox person | |||
|caption= | |||
| name = Jeremiah Joseph Duggan | |||
|date= {{start date|2003|03|27|df=yes}} | |||
| image = JeremiahDuggan2.jpg | |||
|time= c. 6:00 am | |||
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1980|11|10}} | |||
|place= Berliner Straße, ], ], Germany | |||
| birth_place = ], England, UK | |||
|first reporter= | |||
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2003|03|27|1980|11|10}} | |||
|filmed by= | |||
| death_place = Berliner Straße, ], ], ], Germany ({{coord|50.060617|8.283164|type:landmark|display=inline}}) | |||
|participants= | |||
| resting_place = ], London, England, UK | |||
|outcome= | |||
| nationality = British | |||
|reported injuries= | |||
| movement = ] | |||
|reported deaths= | |||
| parents = Erica Duggan, Hugo Duggan | |||
|reported property damage= | |||
|burial=], London<br/>10 April 2003 | |||
|inquest= ], London<br/>4 November 2003 | |||
|coroner=Rev. Dr. ] | |||
|verdict= ]: Duggan received fatal head injuries after being hit by a car, and had earlier been in a "state of terror."<ref name=TownsendOct2004/> | |||
|suspects= | |||
|charges= | |||
|convictions= | |||
|publication bans= | |||
|litigation= Several requests in England and Germany for judicial review;<br/>application for a second inquest currently before the ] in London | |||
|awards= | |||
|url= | |||
|website= (Duggan family)<br/> (LaRouche movement) | |||
|notes= | |||
}} | }} | ||
'''Jeremiah Joseph Duggan''' (10 November 1980 |
'''Jeremiah Joseph Duggan''' (10 November 1980 – 27 March 2003) was a British student in ] who died during a visit to ], ], Germany, after being struck by several motorists on a ]. The circumstances of Duggan's death became a matter of dispute because, at the time he died, he was attending a youth "cadre" school organised by the ], an international network led by the American political activist ].<ref name=Mueller19Nov2015/> | ||
German police concluded that Duggan had committed ] after running several kilometres (miles) from the apartment in which he had been staying, then jumping in front of early-morning traffic. A British ] rejected a suicide verdict in 2003 after hearing the ] ] describe the LaRouche movement as a political ]. Duggan telephoned his mother, Erica Duggan, fifty minutes before he died, apparently distressed about his involvement in it.<ref>Muir, Hugh. , ''The Guardian'', 12 July 2003.</ref><ref name=Kirby28Aug2003/><ref>Kirby, Terry. , ''The Independent'', 4 November 2003.</ref><ref>Muir, Hugh. , ''The Guardian'', 5 November 2003.</ref> | |||
The German police concluded Duggan had committed suicide after he ran for ten minutes down a busy road into oncoming traffic, and was struck by two cars then thrown into the path of a third. In November 2003 a British coroner ruled that he had suffered fatal head injuries during the collisions, but rejected a suicide verdict and said Duggan had been in a state of terror when he died.<ref name=SamuelsFeb24>Samuels Tim. , BBC News, 24 February 2004.</ref> The ] gave the inquest a statement describing the LaRouche movement as a political cult with sinister and dangerous connections.<ref name=TownsendOct2004>Townsend, Mark. , ''The Observer'', 31 October 2004.</ref> | |||
Arguing that German police had not investigated the case thoroughly, Erica Duggan commissioned ] reports which suggested the car crash might have been staged and that Duggan had died elsewhere. After protracted ] in the UK and Germany, the ] in London ordered a second inquest in 2010,<ref name=BBCMay202010>, BBC News, 20 May 2010.</ref> and in 2012 the Frankfurt ] ordered the Wiesbaden police to reopen their investigation.<ref name=Mueller19Nov2015/><ref name=Schmale18May2014/> In 2015 the coroner upheld that Duggan had been killed in the accident, but rejected a suicide verdict, adding that unexplained injuries suggested an "altercation at some stage before his death."<ref name=Taylor21May2015(2)>Taylor, Matthew. , ''The Guardian'', 21 May 2015.</ref><ref name=Barfield22May2015>Barfield, Tom. , ''The Local'', 22 May 2015.</ref> | |||
Since then, the Duggan family and several members of the British and European parliaments have pressed the German police to re-open their investigation, arguing that the inquiry was inadequate, an allegation the Wiesbaden ] strongly denies.<ref name=Degen/> ''The Observer'' reported in March 2007 that the family had commissioned private forensic reports—based on photographs of the body, the cars, and the road—that questioned whether Duggan had actually been hit by any of the cars, and which suggested there were classic defence wounds on his forearms and hands.<ref name=TownsendMarch2007>Townsend, Mark and Doward, Jamie. , ''The Observer'', 25 March 2007.</ref> The family requested a judicial review in Germany of the decision not to re-open the police investigation, but the application was rejected by that country's ] on 4 February 2010.<ref name=Wuerzberg2010>Würzberg, Ulrike. , ''Usinger Anzeiger'', 24 February 2010; Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court of Germany) (2010). , 4 February 2010, accessed 10 March 2010; .</ref> Three weeks later Duggan's mother asked the High Court in London to order a second inquest, after being given leave to do so by the attorney general, who wrote that there was an unanswered question as to whether Duggan's injuries were, in fact, attributable to a car accident.<ref name=Scotland>Scotland, Patricia. , letter to Erica Duggan, Attorney General's Office, London, 17 January 2010; Scotland, Patricia. , Attorney General's Office, London, 17 January 2010. Also see: | |||
*BBC News. , 21 January 2010. | |||
*Bayles, Phil. , ITN London Regional News, 22 January 2010; | |||
*Leigh Day & Co. , 21 January 2010 | |||
*Rosen, Robyn. , ''Jewish Chronicle'', 4 March 2010.</ref> | |||
The LaRouche movement attributed criticism of its involvement in the case to LaRouche's political opponents, including former ] ] and former ] ], who they say sought to discredit LaRouche over his opposition to the 2003 ] and his criticism of ].<ref>{{cite web|author=Steinberg, Jeffrey|url=http://larouchepub.com/eiw/public/2005/2005_10-19/2005_10-19/2005-11/pdf/40-42_11_intduggan.pdf|title=Behind the Kelly/Wilson/Duggan Affair: Anatomy of a Defamation Campaign|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090106112310/http://larouchepub.com/eiw/public/2005/2005_10-19/2005_10-19/2005-11/pdf/40-42_11_intduggan.pdf |archive-date=6 January 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=London 'Friends of Dick Cheney and Al Gore' Behind New Slander of LaRouche|url=http://www.larouchepac.com/pages/press_releases_files/2007/0327_smear.shtml|date=25 March 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070427131245/http://www.larouchepac.com/pages/press_releases_files/2007/0327_smear.shtml|archive-date=27 April 2007|publisher=Executive Intelligence Review|pages=40–42}}</ref><ref>Samuels, Tim. ''Newsnight'', ''Newsnight'', BBC News, 12 February 2004, , 00:05:19.</ref> | |||
The LaRouche movement has said the controversy has been stirred up by LaRouche's political opponents—including former British prime minister ] and former U.S. vice-president ]—over his criticism of the 2003 ] and the anthropogenic ] hypothesis, and that Duggan's death is being used by anti-cult activists to discredit the movement.<ref>See | |||
*Samuels, Tim. , BBC News, 12 February 2004, 4:16 mins for LaRouche blaming Tony Blair and Dick Cheney. | |||
*LaRouche Political Action Committee (25 March 2007). : this story calls the Duggan issue a "libel campaign" in response to LaRouche's stance on the Iraq war and global warming. | |||
*Steinberg, Jeffrey (2005). , ''Executive Intelligence Review'', 18 March 2005, pp. 40–42: see p. 42 for the position that anti-cult activists are using the Duggan case to discredit LaRouche | |||
Other responses from the LaRouche movement, 2004–2010: | |||
*Steinberg, Jeffrey (2004). , ''Executive Intelligence Review'', 25 June 2004. | |||
*LaRouche, Lyndon H. (8 November 2006). , Lyndon LaRouche political action committee. | |||
*LaRouche Political Action Committee (10 April 2007). , accessed 5 March 2010. | |||
*LaRouche Political Action Committee (18 September 2007). . | |||
*LaRouche Political Action Committee (25 September 2007). , 25 September 2007. | |||
*Lyndon, LaRouche (5 February 2010). , ''Executive Intelligence Review''.</ref> The Wiesbaden prosecutor, Dr Dieter Arlet, said in 2004 there was no doubt the death was a suicide—that as a consequence of his own behaviour and with no-one else involved, Duggan had thrown himself in front of several cars and died on the third attempt.<ref name=SamuelsFeb24/> A spokesman for the prosecutor suggested in April 2007 that the Duggans simply cannot accept that their son committed suicide.<ref name=Degen>Degen, Wolfgang, , ''Wiesbadener Kurier'', 19 April 2007 (German); .</ref> | |||
==Background== | ==Background== | ||
===Duggan family=== | ===Duggan family=== | ||
Jeremiah Duggan was born in ] to Erica Duggan, a ]ish schoolteacher from ]; and her husband, Hugo Duggan, who was raised in ].<ref name=EricaDuggan>, blogger.com. Retrieved 6 January 2010.</ref><ref name=Dugganbio>, justiceforjeremiah.com.</ref> Erica's father left ] in 1933; many family members were killed during the ].<ref name=Nordhausen11May2004>{{in lang|de}} Nordhausen, Frank. , ''Berliner Zeitung'', 11 May 2004.</ref> Erica, in turn, left South Africa due to '']''. She, Hugo, Jeremiah and his two older sisters made their home in the London suburb of ].<ref name=EricaDuggan/><ref>{{in lang|de}} Zylbersztajn, Daniel. , ''Jüdische Allgemeine'', 4 June 2015.</ref><ref>, BBC News, 28 May 2014.</ref> Duggan's parents ]d when he was aged 7.<ref name=Witt24Oct2004/>{{rp|40}} | |||
Duggan was born in north London to Hugo, who was raised in ], and Erica, a retired schoolteacher originally from South Africa. Erica's father was a German Jew who fled the country during ]; Erica herself left South Africa for England because of ].<ref>Witt, April. , ''The Washington Post'', 24 October 2004, p. 1 for the father's flight from the Holocaust; and for Erica and South Africa, see , ''Blogger'', accessed 6 March 2010.</ref> There were three children: two girls, followed by Duggan. The family was part of the ] movement, and the children were raised in the Jewish tradition, but Hugo said Duggan was also steeped in the Irish tradition he had from his father's side.<ref>, The Justice for Jeremiah Campaign; O'Donovan, Deirdre. , ''Sunday Mirror'', 8 August 2004.</ref> Hugo and Erica divorced when Duggan was seven, but they all remained close. | |||
Duggan attended Fitzjohn's |
Duggan attended ] in ], Quainton School for Boys, and won a ] to ] school in ] as a boarder.<ref name=Dugganbio/> After his ], he spent time in ] then trained in Israel as a youth leader.<ref name=Kirby28Aug2003>Kirby, Terry. , ''The Independent'', 28 August 2003.</ref> Duggan was interested in the arts, music and the theatre, and in 2001 moved to ] to study ] at the ] and ] at the ].<ref name=Witt24Oct2004/>{{rp|17}}<ref>BBC ''Newsnight'', 12 February 2004, , 00:01:49; also , .</ref> Duggan's mother said he became interested in politics after ]; his strong opposition to the ] led him to become involved with the ].<ref name=Taylor27Feb2010>Taylor, Jerome. , ''The Independent'', 27 February 2010.</ref> | ||
===LaRouche movement=== | ===LaRouche movement=== | ||
], 2006|alt=photograph]] | |||
], 2006|alt=An older man is looking to his right, visible from the shoulders up. He has great hair and is balding at the front. He is wearing metal-rimmed glasses, a dark-blue jacket, a white shirt underneath, and a watch on his left wrist. His hands are clasped in front of him, and he is leaning forward slightly.]] | |||
Lyndon LaRouche and his German wife, ], |
] and his German wife, ], ran a global political network of publications, committees and a youth cadre based in ], ], United States, and in ], ], Germany.<ref name=Kirby28Aug2003/> The movement in Germany is represented by the ] and the '']'' party.<ref name=Mueller19Nov2015/> LaRouche ] in the US eight times between 1976 and 2004.<ref>Tarr, Dave; Benenson, Bob. ''Elections A to Z'', CQ Press, 2012, .</ref> He was ] for conspiracy to commit ], a prosecution he claimed was politically motivated.<ref>, ''Time'' magazine, 6 February 1989.{{pb}}, ''The New York Times'', 27 January 1994.</ref> | ||
From the 1970s the movement became associated with the promotion of ], and at times with the use of violence against opponents, the fraudulent use of donations, and ].<ref name=Witt24Oct2004/>{{rp|37–39}}<ref name=Clemente2003>Ciment, Jim. "Lyndon LaRouche," in Peter Knight (ed.), ''Conspiracy Theories in American History: An Encyclopedia'', ABC-CLIO, 2003, .</ref><ref>Minz, John. , ''The Washington Post'', 14 January 1985.</ref> There was criticism of its recruitment methods; according to '']'', recruits were isolated from their families, encouraged to give up their studies, and subjected to intense verbal pressure before being asked to accept the LaRouche worldview.<ref name=Smith18July2004>Smith, David James. , ''The Sunday Times'', 18 July 2004. Archived at the ().</ref> Members said the allegations were misrepresentations, and LaRouche strongly denied the charge of antisemitism.<ref>] "On The Press Hoax Against the Pope: Britain's Bernard Lewis & His Crimes," LaRouche Political Action Committee, 17 September 2006. Archived at the .</ref> | |||
The movement has been associated in the mainstream media with violence against its opponents, fraudulent use of donations, ], and the promotion of conspiracy theories.<ref>See, for example; | |||
*Rosenfeld, Stephen. , ''The Washington Post'', 24 September 1976. | |||
*Blum, Howard. , ''New York Times'', October 7, 1979. | |||
*]. , ''Society'', Vol 18, Number 4, Springer New York, May 1981. | |||
*Lerman, Antony. ", in Frankel, William (ed.). ''Survey of Jewish Affairs 1987''. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1988.</ref> The movement's members insist the allegations are misrepresentations, and LaRouche himself has strongly denied the charge of anti-Semitism.<ref name=LaRouchePope>] , Lyndon LaRouche Political Action Committee, 17 September 2006.</ref> According to ''The Sunday Times'', the movement is also known for its aggressive recruiting techniques, known as "ego-stripping" or "psycho sessions," in which potential recruits are isolated from their families, encouraged to give up their studies, and subjected to intense verbal pressure before being asked to accept the LaRouche worldview.<ref name=Smith/> | |||
], 2005|alt=A woman is looking to her left. She seems to be seated. She has long brown hair and is wearing earphones. She is wearing a dark grey top, a green, black, and orange scarf around her neck, and a watch on her left wrist with a grey watchstrap.]] | |||
LaRouche was particularly critical of Britain and of the ] in London, a ] and ] charity that the movement associated with ].<ref name=Witt24Oct2004/>{{rp|40}}<ref name=Kirby21July2004>Kirby, Terry. , ''The Independent'', 21 July 2004.</ref> In 1999 a LaRouche publication claimed Britain's ] (MI6) was threatening to assassinate LaRouche, probably with backing from the ].<ref>Burdman, Mark. , ''Executive Intelligence Review'', 13 August 1999.</ref> Duggan's family came to believe that this worldview affected the movement's perception of Duggan when the conference participants learned that he was a British Jew who, as a child, had attended the ] for counselling when his parents divorced.<ref name=Witt24Oct2004/>{{rp|40}}<ref name=Kirby21July2004/> | |||
LaRouche is particularly critical of Britain. He said in 1980 that the British are more evil than Hitler, and that British intelligence is involved in global brainwashing and drug dealing, with the Queen aware of the latter.<ref>Samuels, Tim. , BBC News, 12 February 2004; also see an extended news item presented by Tim Samuels on BBC ''Newsnight'', 12 February 2004, available on ''YouTube''. | |||
*For the allegations about the Queen, see . | |||
*On ''Newsnight'', 12 February 2004, LaRouche is shown telling a ''Newsnight'' interviewer in 1980: "Of course she's pushing drugs. That is, in the sense of a responsibility, the head of a gang that is pushing drugs, she knows it's happening and she isn't stopping it": available on ''YouTube'', part 1, at 3:49 minutes. | |||
*For the British being more evil than Hitler, see . | |||
*For more details, see Kirby, Terry. , ''The Independent'', 21 July 2004.</ref> In 1999 a LaRouche publication said Britain's ] (MI6) was threatening to assassinate him, probably with backing from the royal household.<ref>Burdman, Mark. , ''Executive Intelligence Review'', 13 August 1999. The article said: "On Aug. 2, his campaign vehicle, LaRouche's Committee for a New Bretton Woods, was quick to respond, with a statement issued in Washington by Debra Hanania-Freeman, national spokeswoman for LaRouche. Freeman said: "After consulting with security experts familiar with the modus operandi of British intelligence networks, we are treating the piece as a cover for an MI6 order, probably with direct backing from someone in the royal household, to assassinate Lyndon LaRouche.... "</ref> In Germany, the movement is represented by the '']'', known as BüSo, and the ], the latter founded by Zepp-LaRouche in 1984. It was the Schiller Institute that organized the conference Duggan attended, while the youth cadre school that followed it was held by the ]. The ''Berliner Zeitung'' wrote in 2007 that the Schiller Institute had a following of about 300 in Germany at that time, and was one of the cults recruiting aggressively in German streets.<ref name=Nordhausen>Nordhausen, Frank. , ''Berliner Zeitung'', 4 April 2007; .</ref> | |||
{{clear}} | |||
==Duggan's involvement with the movement== | ==Duggan's involvement with the movement== | ||
===''Nouvelle Solidarité''=== | === ''Nouvelle Solidarité'' === | ||
] station on the ].]] | |||
], just outside Wiesbaden|alt=A map of western Europe showing London, Paris, Brussels, Luxembourg, and Wiesbaden. Above Wiesbaden is a red arrow.]] | |||
Duggan's first contact with the LaRouche movement was in Paris in |
Duggan's first contact with the LaRouche movement was in Paris in January 2003, when he bought a copy of the LaRouche French-language newspaper, ''Nouvelle Solidarité'', from a booth near the British Institute, outside the ] station on the ]. The man who sold him the paper was Benoit Chalifoux, a writer for the newspaper and one of the movement's "organizers", or recruiters.<ref name=Nordhausen11May2004/><ref name=Smith18July2004/> | ||
Duggan was strongly opposed to the Iraq War, as were Chalifoux and his group of friends from the LaRouche movement.<ref>Louise Osmond, "Lost Abroad: The Parents' Story," ''Cutting Edge'', Channel 4, 1 April 2010, , 00:01:28 (, , , ).</ref> ] were taking place worldwide in the weeks leading up to the ] on 20 March 2003. Duggan began seeing more of Chalifoux's group and was invited to attend a Schiller Institute conference near Wiesbaden, the LaRouche movement's European headquarters.<ref>Channel 4 ''Cutting Edge'', 1 April 2010, , 00:05:40–00:07:10.</ref> Duggan and his parents assumed it was an anti-war conference. His mother searched for material about LaRouche on the web in vain; possibly she or her son misspelled the name as "Laroche."<ref name=Kirby28Aug2003/><ref name=Smith18July2004/> | |||
===Wiesbaden conference=== | |||
Duggan and Chalifoux travelled to Wiesbaden together on 21 March with eight other LaRouche members in a convoy of cars. Once there, Duggan was given a place to sleep with two other activists, Sébastien Drochon and another named as Jean-Adrien,<ref name=Foggo/> in an apartment belonging to Schiller Institute managers, Rainer and Ursula Apel, who had been involved with the movement for 30 years.<ref name=Smith/> | |||
===Conference=== | |||
LaRouche himself was the conference's keynote speaker. It was the eighth day of the war in Iraq, and ''The Washington Post'' reports that the mood of the conference was apocalyptic. LaRouche told the audience that ] was an unreformed drunk, that ] had founded the ] from the White House, that ] was killed by an internal American operation called the "Special Warfare Section," that the U.S. was using the war in Iraq to ignite global warfare, and that the Bush administration was "totally committed to worldwide fascist imperialism," with North Korea, China, and Iran as targets. He said the plot to launch a new world war was being influenced by people who "like Hitler, admire Nietzsche, but being Jewish ... couldn't qualify for Nazi Party leadership, even though their fascism was absolutely pure! As extreme as Hitler! They sent them to the United States." The people behind the plot were the "independent central-banking-system crowd, the slime-mold," he said, the same people who had brought Hitler to power in the 1930s.<ref name=Witt4>Witt, April. , ''The Washington Post'', 24 October 2004, p. 4.</ref> | |||
Duggan and Chalifoux travelled to Wiesbaden on 21 March with eight other men.<ref name=Kirby28Aug2003/> Duggan stayed in a youth ] at first, then with two other recruits in an apartment belonging to two Schiller Institute managers.<ref name=Smith18July2004/> | |||
The conference, "How to Reconstruct a Bankrupt World," was held in ], near Wiesbaden, from 21 to 23 March. LaRouche was the keynote speaker, with a speech entitled "Physical Geometry as Strategy."<ref name=Kirby28Aug2003/> According to April Witt in '']'', he told the audience that ] ] was an unreformed drunk (he is a ]), ] had founded the ] from the ], ] was killed by a domestic American operation, and the US was using the war in Iraq to "ignite catastrophic global warfare."<ref name=Witt24Oct2004/>{{rp|39–40}} The plot to launch a ] was being influenced, he said, by people who "like ], admire ], but being Jewish ... couldn't qualify for ] leadership, even though their fascism was absolutely pure! As extreme as Hitler! They sent them to the United States." The people behind the plot were the "independent central-banking-system crowd, the slime-mold," he said, the same people who had brought Hitler to power in the 1930s.<ref name=Witt24Oct2004>Witt, April. "No Joke," ''Washington Post Magazine'', 24 October 2004, 12–17, 36–42. Archived at .</ref>{{rp|39–40}} | |||
===Youth cadre school=== | ===Youth cadre school=== | ||
After the conference, Duggan |
After the conference, Duggan attended a ] cadre school in Wiesbaden with 60–70 others. Chalifoux, the recruiter who had accompanied him to Germany, returned to Paris.<ref name=Smith18July2004/> According to another potential recruit, there were hours of lectures, ]s and one-on-one meetings every day, as well as chanting and singing.<ref>Taylor, Matthew. , ''The Guardian'', 20 May 2015.</ref> | ||
Duggan reportedly stood out because he was British and Jewish.<ref name=Witt24Oct2004/>{{rp|40}} A document from the ], submitted to the first ], said the Schiller Institute and LaRouche Youth Movement blamed the Jewish people for the Iraq war and other global issues, and that "Jeremiah's lecture notes and bulletins showed the anti-Semitic nature of ideology."<ref name="BBC Newsnight 12 February 2004, 00:02:23">BBC ''Newsnight'', 12 February 2004, , 00:02:23.</ref> According to Duggan's mother, the Schiller Institute's scientific adviser, Jonathan Tennenbaum, told her that when Duggan heard the Jews being blamed for the war during a seminar, he had stood up and said, "But I'm a Jew!"<ref name=Kirby28Aug2003/> One participant said the others put him "through the wringer" because of it.<ref name=Nordhausen4April2007>{{in lang|de}} Nordhausen, Frank. , ''Berliner Zeitung'', 4 April 2007.</ref> | |||
According to ''The Washington Post'', Duggan stood out because he was British and Jewish, and perhaps also because he told the others that he had gone to the ] as a child for a family counselling session when his parents were divorcing.<ref name=Witt5/> The LaRouche movement believes the related ] is a brainwashing centre for British intelligence; according to Duggan's conference notes at least one speaker there referred to it in those terms.<ref name=Witt5>Witt, April. , ''The Washington Post'', 24 October 2004, p. 5.</ref> In an article about Duggan's death in 2004, LaRouche's security director, Jeffrey Steinberg, referred to Duggan's counselling there, and said the Tavistock had long been associated with radical experimentation in individual and mass psychological manipulation.<ref>Steinberg, Jeffrey. , ''Executive Intelligence Review'', 25 June 2004.</ref> Frank Nordhausen writes in the ''Berliner Zeitung'' that Duggan may have had the misfortune to represent a combination LaRouche often warned his security teams about—British, Jewish, and linked to an institute LaRouche referred to as "psychos."<ref name=Nordhausen/> | |||
According to Witt, Duggan may have been placed under further pressure because he told the others he had attended the Tavistock Clinic as a child for counselling when his parents divorced. Duggan's conference notes showed that someone at the conference referred to the Tavistock as a "]" centre.<ref name=Witt24Oct2004/>{{rp|40}} | |||
According to the ''Post'', LaRouche has been concerned since the 1970s that his members might be brainwashed by intelligence agencies to harm him.<ref name=Witt3/> ''The New York Times'' obtained a tape recording in 1973 of the so-called de-programming of a 26-year-old British activist, Christopher White, who LaRouche believed had been programmed to kill him. White is heard complaining that he has been deprived of food, sleep, and cigarettes. There are sounds of weeping and vomiting on the tape, and someone says "raise the voltage," though LaRouche, who was present during at least one of the sessions, said later this referred to the bright lights being used during the questioning, not an electric shock. White complains about a terrible pain in his arm, and LaRouche can be heard saying, "That's not real. That's in the program."<ref name=Witt3/> Not long after this, another recruit, Alice Weitzman, threw a note pleading for help out of her apartment window in New York, after several LaRouche members arrived there claiming she had been brainwashed to kill LaRouche; a passer-by alerted the police and they released her. The ''Post'' writes that brainwashing hysteria spread throughout the movement; one former member who spoke to the ''Post'' said people could be seen at LaRouche meetings writhing on the floor, saying they needed de-programming.<ref name=Witt3>Witt, April. , ''The Washington Post'', 24 October 2004, p. 3. | |||
*For the ''New York Times'' story cited by Witt, see Montgomery, Paul L. (1974). , ''The New York Times'', 20 January 1974.</ref> In 2004, another former member, Aglaja Beyes-Corleis, who left the movement in the early 1990s after being involved with it for 16 years, told the BBC people were drawn into the organization without really wanting to be, and that conferences involved what the BBC said was immense psychological duress. She said she herself had "freaked out" during them, as she put it, as had other members.<ref>Samuels, Tim. , BBC News, 12 February 2004, at 00:42 mins for Beyes-Corleis saying people were drawn into it without really wanting to be, and from 3:00 mins for her 16 years with the Institute, and her description of the behaviour at conferences.</ref> | |||
The ''Berliner Zeitung'' writes that Duggan's being a Jew would also have drawn attention to him.<ref name=Nordhausen/> Aglaja Beyes-Corleis said Jewish members were sometimes placed under particular pressure at meetings.<ref>Samuels, Tim. , BBC News, 12 February 2004, at 3:33 mins.</ref> An internal memo from the London Metropolitan Police submitted as evidence at his inquest said the Schiller Institute and LaRouche Youth Movement blamed the Jewish people for the Iraq war and all the other problems in the world; the memo said that "Jeremiah's lecture notes and bulletins showed the anti-Semitic nature of ideology."<ref>Samuels, Tim. "Jeremiah Duggan's death and Lyndon LaRouche," BBC ''Newsnight'', 12 February 2004; available on ''YouTube'', part 3, at 2:23 mins.</ref> Duggan's mother said Dr. Jonathan Tennenbaum, the Schiller Institute's scientific adviser, told her after his death that when Duggan heard the Jews being blamed for the Iraq war during a seminar at the cadre school, he had stood up and said, "But I'm a Jew!"<ref name=Kirby>Kirby, Terry. , ''The Independent'', 28 August 2003.</ref> One participant said the others "really put Jeremiah through the wringer for that."<ref name=Nordhausen/> | |||
==Incident== | ==Incident== | ||
===Visit to Frankfurt=== | |||
] museum, Frankfurt]] | |||
Duggan and his French girlfriend had planned to meet in Paris on Tuesday, 25 March.<ref name=Kirby28Aug2003/> Instead he called her that day, two days before his death, to say he had no money for the fare home and was unable to get a ride until Sunday. He told her "very serious things" were happening and that he would explain when he returned.<ref name=Witt24Oct2004/>{{rp|40}} | |||
On 26 March, Duggan accompanied LaRouche members to ] to hand out LaRouche literature in the streets, then to see the ] collection at the ] museum. When one member asked what he thought of the artwork, he started crying. The woman invited him to step outside for some air. Duggan kept repeating that he did not trust LaRouche and said he wanted to go back to England. She told him he was free to leave and could phone her if he wanted to, which seemed to reassure him. She last saw him with one of his roommates sitting on the steps of the museum around 8:30 pm.<ref name=Witt24Oct2004/>{{rp|40}}<ref name=Smith18July2004/><ref>Channel 4 ''Cutting Edge'', 1 April 2010, , 00:06:25.</ref> | |||
===Duggan's telephone calls=== | ===Duggan's telephone calls=== | ||
One of the Schiller Institute managers in whose apartment Duggan was staying told ''The Sunday Times'' that he and his roommate returned to the house around midnight. They had no key so the manager opened the door for them. According to the roommate (speaking after Duggan's death to his girlfriend), Duggan could not sleep and kept switching the lights on and off. He repeated that he was unable to trust LaRouche and felt trapped.<ref name=Smith18July2004/> | |||
] | |||
Duggan had planned to meet his French girlfriend, Maya, in Paris on Tuesday night, 25 March, two days before his death, but he telephoned her that day to say he had no money for the fare home, and was unable to get a ride until Sunday. He told her very serious things were happening, and that he would explain when he returned. <ref name=Witt5/> On 26 March, he went with some LaRouche movement members to Frankfurt to hand out LaRouche literature in the streets. Later they went to the ] museum to see the ] collection. When one member asked him what he thought of it, Duggan started sobbing. The woman asked him to step outside with her for some air. He kept repeating that he didn't trust LaRouche. She said he was free to leave, and he hugged her and seemed reassured.<ref name=Smith/> | |||
At around 4:20 am—by now Thursday, 27 March—Duggan called his girlfriend on the roommate's ]. She said he was speaking very quietly; sounded agitated and confused; complained that he no longer knew what was true and real; and that someone was conducting experiments with computers and magnetic waves, perhaps on him. She asked him to take a train to Paris in the morning.<ref name=Witt24Oct2004/>{{rp|40}}<ref name=Smith18July2004/><ref>BBC ''Newsnight'', 12 February 2004, , 00:05:10; , 00:00:00 mins.</ref> According to the roommate, Duggan then telephoned his mother, after which he ran out of the house.<ref name=Foggo9Nov2003/> Mrs. Duggan said the first call came at 5:24 am German time (4:24 am in the UK): | |||
Rainer Apel, the Schiller Institute manager whose apartment Duggan was staying in, told ''The Sunday Times'' that Duggan and Sébastien Drochon—who was sleeping in the same apartment and later went to work for the LaRouche group ''Solidarité et Progrès'' in France<ref name=Kirby />—got back to the house around midnight; they had no key so Apel remembers having to open the door for them. Drochon told police Duggan was restless, switching the lights off obsessively. He talked about how he was afraid of going bald, was unable to trust LaRouche, and felt trapped.<ref name=Smith/><ref name=Midgley3>Midgley, Carol. , ''The Times'', 7 November 2003. p. 3</ref> | |||
<blockquote>And he said, "Mum, I'm in ... big trouble ... You know this ''Nouvelle Solidarité''?" ... He said, "I can't do this ... I want out." And at that point the phone was cut. And then it rang back again almost immediately. And the first thing that he said that time was, "Mum, I'm frightened." I realised he was in such danger that I said to him, "I love you." And then he said, "I want to see you ''now''." ... I said, "Well, where are you, Jerry?" He said, "Wiesbaden." And I said, "How do you spell it?" And he said, "W-I-E-S." And then the phone was cut.<ref>] ], 12 February 2004, , 00:02:08.{{pb}} | |||
At around 4:30 am—by now Thursday, 27 March—Duggan borrowed Drochon's cell phone to call Maya again.<ref name=Smith/><ref>According to ''Greenwichmeantime.com'', citing the British Department of Trade and Industry: "For 2003-2007 inclusive, the summer-time periods begin and end respectively on the following dates at 1.00am Greenwich Mean Time ... In 2003: the Sundays of 30 March and 26 October ..." As of March 11, 2002, British and European time changes were synchronized (see , accessed 4 November 2009). This means that, on 27 March 2003, Britain was on GMT, and France and Germany were on Central European Standard Time, GMT+1.</ref> Maya said he sounded agitated. He told her he no longer knew what reality was, what was true and what was lies. He spoke of experiments involving computers and magnetic waves. Maya asked him to take a train straightaway to Paris.<ref name=Smith/> She told the BBC: | |||
, BBC Radio 4, 29 November 2004 ().{{pb}} | |||
For Duggan's grandmother, who heard the call, Channel 4 ''Cutting Edge'', 1 April 2010, , 00:06:50.</ref></blockquote> | |||
After the calls, according to the roommate, Duggan asked, "Why did you choose me?" and said he wanted to go out for a cigarette. The roommate went too but pressed a doorbell by accident while looking for the light switch at the bottom of the stairs; he said this appeared to make Duggan panic and he ran off.<ref name=Smith18July2004/> He said he ran after Duggan briefly before going back to the apartment.<ref name=Kirby28Aug2003/> | |||
<blockquote>The first thing he said was that he was under too much pressure. He was talking very quietly. He said that they were doing experiments on humans with computers. The way he spoke was very agitated. He couldn't string a sentence together properly. I asked him who was doing these experiments, and he said the government. He said that they were causing lots of pains to their arms and legs. I tried to find out where he was, but he wouldn't say.<ref>Samuels, Tim. "Jeremiah Duggan's death and Lyndon LaRouche," BBC ''Newsnight'', 12 February 2004; available on ''YouTube'': interview with Maya begins 5:10 mins in part 1, and continues from 00:00 mins in part 2.</ref></blockquote> | |||
===Death=== | |||
According to Drochon, after the call to Maya Duggan telephoned his mother, then ran out of the house at 5:15 am.<ref name=Foggo/> It is not clear that the calls to Erica were made from the same cell phone or directly after the call to Maya.<ref name=Nordhausen/> Erica told the BBC the first call came in at 4:24 am local time (5:24 am in Germany). She had been unable to sleep and was sitting in the kitchen with a cup of tea. | |||
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| caption1 = The fatal collisions were reported at 06:14 am just before the sliproad where the Berliner Strasse becomes ]. The Peugeot and Golf are parked ahead in the direction of the town centre.<ref name="Duggan v Attorney General 2008"/>{{rp|180, 183}} | |||
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| caption2 = The 06:00 and 06:14 collisions; the apartment (top left) in which Duggan had been staying; and the LaRouche offices (bottom right). | |||
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Just over thirty minutes later, at about 6:00 am, two drivers heading into Wiesbaden town centre saw a man run toward them on the Berliner Straße (]), a four-lane ].<ref name="Smith18July2004" /><ref name="Nordhausen4April2007" /><ref name="Duggan v Attorney General 2008" />{{rp|179–181}} The spot, near an ] garage, was around five kilometres (c. three miles) from the apartment in which Duggan had been staying, and not far from the LaRouche offices in the Wiesbaden suburb of ].<ref name="Smith18July2004" /><ref>BBC ''Newsnight'', 12 February 2004, from 00:01:38.</ref> One of the drivers said Duggan ran toward him with outstretched arms.<ref name="Nordhausen11May2004" /> The car, a ], clipped him with the wing mirror. He appears to have fallen, but got up and continued running toward the traffic that was heading into town.<ref name="Smith18July2004" /> Both drivers reported the incidents to police.<ref name="Duggan v Attorney General 2008" />{{rp|181}} | |||
At 6:14 am, as the police were taking details, they were told that a man had run into a red ] further ahead on the same road.<ref name="Duggan v Attorney General 2008"/>{{rp|181}} The driver saw Duggan move onto the road in front of him. The driver swerved from the inside lane to the outside, but the driver said Duggan leapt in front of the car, arms raised and mouth open. The driver hit him, denting the passenger door and shattering the passenger window and windscreen, and throwing Duggan into the path of a blue ], which ran over him.<ref name="Duggan v Attorney General 2008"/>{{rp|179–180}} He was certified dead at the scene at 6:35 am.<ref name=Witt24Oct2004/>{{rp|41}} | |||
<blockquote>He said, "Mum, I'm in ... big trouble ... You know this ''Nouvelle Solidarité''? .." He said, "I can't do this" ... I want out." And at that point the phone was cut. And then it rang back again almost immediately. ... And then the first thing that he said that time was, "Mum, I'm frightened." I realized he was in such danger that I said to him, "I love you." And then he said, "I want to see you ''now''. ... ''Now'' was important. I said, "well, where are you, Jerry?" And he said, "Wiesbaden." And I said, "How do you spell it?" And he said, "W I E S." And then the phone was cut.<ref>Samuels, Tim. "Jeremiah Duggan's death and Lyndon LaRouche," BBC ''Newsnight'', 12 February 2004; available on ''YouTube'', part 2, from 02:08 mins.</ref></blockquote> | |||
The view of the German police was that Duggan had arrived at that stretch of road after running 5 km (3 miles) from the apartment.<ref name=Degen19April2007/> Duggan's family complained that the police had failed to establish that. Other allegations included that he had spent the night at the nearby LaRouche offices and ran from there to the road,<ref name=Schmale18May2014/> and that he had run onto the road from a car.<ref>{{in lang|de}} Lorscheid, Helmut. , ''Heise Online'', 14 November 2003.</ref> ] reports commissioned by Erica Duggan suggested that he may have died elsewhere and been moved onto the road after the fact, a position the ] rejected in 2015.<ref name=Taylor21May2015(2)/> | |||
Drochon said that after the calls Duggan asked him, "why did you choose me?" and said he wanted to go out for cigarettes. Drochon offered to go with him. At the bottom of the stairs, Drochon pressed the doorbell; he said this happened accidentally as he was looking for the light switch. Duggan appeared to panic at the noise and ran off, according to Drochon.<ref name=Smith/> Drochon said he ran after him but was unable to catch up. He told a Schiller Institute manager, Ortrun Cramer, that Duggan had left the house.<ref name=Kirby/> | |||
]|alt=A road with two lanes in each direction. In the middle a thick white line. On the left side of the road there are two cars in the distance, one red, one blue; and on the left, a white bundle is lying. Around the white bundle there are white marks on the ground. To the left of the image there is a barrier, and beyond it some greenery. There are buildings in the distance.]] | |||
=== |
===Early response=== | ||
Within minutes of Duggan's second telephone, Erica contacted the British emergency services and was advised to call her local police station in ], ]. She told them she believed her son was in danger. They transferred her to the Metropolitan Police at ], but when she explained he had become involved with ''Nouvelle Solidarité'' they had no idea what she meant.<ref name=Kirby28Aug2003/> | |||
Forty-five minutes later, at about 6:00 am, the driver of a BMW said he saw Duggan run onto the Berliner Straße, or ] (B-455), a dual carriageway in the Wiesbaden suburb of ]. The spot where he was found in the road, near the LaRouche headquarters, was around five kilometres (3.1 miles) from the apartment he had been staying in.<ref>Samuels, Tim. "Jeremiah Duggan's death and Lyndon LaRouche," BBC ''Newsnight'', 12 February 2004; available on ''YouTube'', part 2, from 2:00 mins.</ref> The driver clipped him with his wing mirror and knocked him over, but Duggan got up and kept on running for another ten minutes away from the centre of town, facing the incoming traffic, before he was hit again.<ref name=Smith>Smith, David James. , ''The Sunday Times'', 18 July 2004.</ref> The driver of a second car, a red Peugeot, said Duggan leapt in front of the car, his arms raised and his mouth open. The driver said the car hit him, shattering the windshield and a passenger door window, and throwing him into the path of a third car, a blue Golf, which ran over him.<ref>Nordhausen, Frank. , ''Berliner Zeitung'', 4 April 2007, p. 3; ; Witt, April. , ''The Washington Post'', 24 October 2004, p. 5. For the ten minute gap between being hit by the first and second cars, see Samuels, Tim. "Jeremiah Duggan's death and Lyndon LaRouche," BBC ''Newsnight'', 12 February 2004; available on ''YouTube'', part 2, from 01:38 mins.</ref> | |||
At 7:40 am Duggan's roommate telephoned his girlfriend in Paris to ask if she had heard from him; he said Duggan had left the apartment and had not returned.<ref name=inquest2003>{{cite news|title=Partial inquest transcript|url=http://www.justiceforjeremiah.com/inquest.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051217223150/http://www.justiceforjeremiah.com/inquest.html|archive-date=17 December 2005|author=HM Coroner for Northern District of Greater London, Hornsey, 6 November 2003}}</ref> At around 11 am Erica rang the roommate's mobile phone; because he did not speak English, he passed it to a Schiller Institute manager. The manager reportedly told her the group was ], adding, "We cannot take responsibility for the actions of individuals. We think your son has psychological problems."<ref name=Kirby28Aug2003/> She said she would call the local hospitals to see whether Duggan had been admitted. Shortly after this, the manager and Duggan's roommate, along with another member, handed his ], bag and rucksack to the Wiesbaden police station.<ref name=Foggo9Nov2003>Foggo, Daniel. , ''The Daily Telegraph'', 9 November 2003.</ref> | |||
===Immediate reaction=== | |||
Within minutes of Duggan's second call, his mother telephoned ], the British emergency services number, and was advised to call her local police station in ], Barnet. She told police there that she believed her son was in danger, and they transferred her to the main office of the London Metropolitan Police at Scotland Yard, but when she explained he had become mixed up with ''Nouvelle Solidarité'' they had no idea what she meant. She telephoned his girlfriend, Maya, who told her Drochon, Duggan's roommate, had called to ask whether Maya had heard from him, because Duggan had left the apartment and had not returned; this call was at 7:40 am, according to the inquest.<ref name=inquest>, ''The Justice for Jeremiah Campaign''.</ref> | |||
The manager told '']'': "I believed he had psychological problems, based on the conversations he had with people. I don't know what happened on the night he died, but the Schiller Institute played no part in his death."<ref name=Kirby28Aug2003/> The police report stated that the manager told them Erica had called "since he had severe ] and was not getting in touch with her." Later Erica said her son had not had asthma since childhood.<ref name=Foggo9Nov2003/> | |||
Maya gave Erica Drochon's cell phone number. Erica said Drochon hung up when she first called him, but when she called a second time he passed her to the Schiller Institute manager, Ortrun Cramer. Erica said there was a lot of shouting in the background, which stopped when Cramer said, "Die Mutter" ("the mother"). According to ''The Independent'', Cramer told Erica that the LaRouche organization was a news agency, and said, "We cannot take responsibility for the actions of individuals. We think your son has psychological problems." Cramer said she would call the local hospitals to see whether Duggan had been admitted.<ref name=Kirby/><ref name=Foggo>Foggo, Daniel. , ''The Daily Telegraph'', 9 November 2003.</ref> Telephone records show that call ended at 11:07 German time, according to ''The Daily Telegraph''. About three minutes later, the ''Telegraph'' writes, Cramer, Drochon, and another activist presented themselves at the Wiesbaden police station with Duggan's passport, his bag, and his rucksack, though another report says that Cramer first contacted them by telephone.<ref name=Foggo/> Cramer told ''The Independent'' in 2004: "I believed he had psychological problems, based on the conversations he had with people. I don't know what happened on the night he died, but the Schiller Institute played no part in his death."<ref name=Kirby/> His parents were told by British police at 3:45 that afternoon that Duggan was dead, and that it was believed he had committed suicide.<ref>Duggan, Erica. , The Justice for Jeremiah Campaign, accessed 6 March 2010.</ref> | |||
According to one of those present, around 25 members of the movement were asked to assemble in the local LaRouche office that morning, in a meeting attended by Helga Zepp-LaRouche. They were told that Duggan had killed himself. A LaRouche recruiter from Paris told the meeting that Duggan had been to the Tavistock Clinic, apparently giving the impression that he had been there recently. Zepp-LaRouche reportedly said that Duggan might have been sent from London to harm LaRouche.<ref name=Smith18July2004/> | |||
==Inquiries== | ==Inquiries== | ||
===German |
===First German investigation=== | ||
Wiesbaden police reportedly concluded within three hours that Duggan committed ].<ref name=Nordhausen4April2007/> LaRouche officials were said to have told police that Duggan had been a patient at the Tavistock Clinic and had suffered from "suicidal impulses."<ref name=Witt24Oct2004/>{{rp|41}} That view of him shaped the rest of the inquiry, according to ''The Sunday Times''.<ref name=Smith18July2004/> | |||
The police in Wiesbaden concluded within three hours that it was a suicide, according to the ''Berliner Zeitung''.<ref name=Nordhausen/> Jurgen Burg, an accident examiner, took 79 photographs of the body, the scene and the cars, though the cars were moved before he arrived to photograph them.<ref>Erica Duggan v H.M. Attorney General'', 2008, para 12ff.</ref> The drivers were reportedly allowed to leave the scene before the investigating officer arrived.<ref>, ''Daily Mail'', 2 November 2008.</ref> There was no postmortem examination, no signed statements from witnesses, and the police destroyed Duggan's clothes.<ref name=Foggo/> Evidence was taken from witnesses, but was recorded only as brief and allegedly contradictory notes, according to ''The Daily Telegraph'', which obtained a copy of the police report.<ref name=Foggo/> Written by an Officer Schächer, it concluded there was no doubt Duggan had run onto the road with the intention of committing suicide, and no suggestion that another party was involved.<ref name=Foggo/> The police said LaRouche officials told them Duggan had suffered from suicidal impulses, and that he had been a mental patient at the Tavistock Institute.<ref name=Witt5/> | |||
An emergency doctor gave the cause of death as "open, cranio-cerebral trauma following traffic accident,"<ref name="Duggan v Attorney General 2008"/>{{rp|182}} injuries that he said were consistent with the accident as described by the drivers.<ref name=Degen13June2015>{{in lang|de}} Degen, Wolfgang. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161005230358/http://www.wiesbadener-kurier.de/lokales/wiesbaden/nachrichten-wiesbaden/wiesbaden-faszination-verschwoerung-seit-zwoelf-jahren-bietet-unfalltod-eines-britischen-studenten-anlass-zu-spekulationen_15539741.htm |date=5 October 2016 }}, ''Wiesbadener Kurier'', 13 June 2015.</ref> The accident investigator noted marks on Duggan's clothes consistent with having been in contact with the underside of a vehicle.<ref name=Degen13June2015/> The braking had left marks on the road; Duggan was lying about 23 metres (25 yards) beyond the point of impact.<ref name="Duggan v Attorney General 2008"/>{{rp|180, 235}} The investigator took 79 photographs of the scene, although the cars were moved before he arrived.<ref name="Skeleton argument 2008"/>{{rp|9}} | |||
===British postmortem and inquest=== | |||
Duggan's body was flown back to England on 31 March, where a non-forensic postmortem examination was conducted on 4 April by Dr David Shove, a consultant ] at Barnet General Hospital. Shove found serious head injuries, bruising on the backs of the arms and hands—which ''The Independent'' and a second pathologist later called "defence wounds"—and blood in the lungs and stomach.<ref>Taylor, Jerome (2010). ''The Independent '' 27 February 2010; ''Erica Duggan v H.M. Attorney General'', 2008, para 21.</ref> He concluded that Duggan had died of massive head injuries. He did not give evidence at the inquest, and according to Erica told her much later that he was not told Duggan had been in a collision with a car; he reportedly told her that he did not believe Duggan had been involved in such a collision, but he declined to sign a statement to that effect. Blood samples showed no trace of drugs or alcohol.<ref>For the postmortem date and its description as "non-forensic," see ''Erica Duggan v H.M. Attorney General'', 2008, para 7; see para 22 for the claim that Shove later told Erica Duggan that he did not believe Duggan had been in a collision with a car. For the same material, see Nordhausen, Frank. , ''Berliner Zeitung'', 4 April 2007; . | |||
*For Shove's position as a histopathologist at Barnet, see Kelsey, Tim. , ''The Independent'', 4 October 1993. For a paper on the differences between the work of forensic pathologists and histopathologists, see Rutty, Guy N. , ''Forensic Science, Medicine, and Pathology'', Volume 2, Number 2, June 2006.</ref> | |||
German authorities did not conduct an ] because the cause of death had been established and there was no evidence of ].<ref name=Degen13June2015/> His clothes were not returned to his family and were assumed to have been destroyed.<ref name=Foggo9Nov2003/> The police took no formal witness statements.<ref name=Capon18May2015/> Witness evidence was recorded as "brief, sometimes contradictory, notes," according to '']''.<ref name=Foggo9Nov2003/> Nothing suggested that the drivers had any connection to the LaRouche movement or Duggan.<ref name="Duggan v Attorney General 2008"/>{{rp|192}} The Wiesbaden ] closed the case after three months.<ref name=Capon18May2015/> In 2004 he told the ]: | |||
The inquest was held on 6 and 7 November 2003. The court heard from a psychiatrist, ], that Duggan had no history of mental illness. Tylden testified that a severe stress reaction can be caused by a rapid change in a person's belief system. She wrote in a report for the court: " state was similar to those I have had described to me by others I have seen previously. He had become confused, failed to sleep for a whole night and became acutely alarmed by the sound of a front door bell and covered five kilometres along a motorway in about 35 minutes. At the end of this experience he would have been physiologically and psychologically completely confused and disorientated. Had he not been fatally injured by the accident and instead gone to hospital it might have been possible to discover whether he had developed an acute ]. The three other cult members I have seen who survived similar situations, two on motorways and one on a railway line, were not found to be psychotic when subsequently admitted to hospital."<ref name=Tylden>Tylden, Elizabeth. , Coroner's Court, Hornsey, London, 6 November 2003, hosted on justiceforjeremiah.com in 2005.</ref> | |||
<blockquote>We are 100 percent certain that it is suicide, suicide as we call it, that as a consequence of his own behaviour, and with no one else involved, he threw himself in front of a car, of several cars, and died on the third attempt.<ref>BBC ''Newsnight'', 12 February 2004, , 00:02:37.</ref></blockquote> | |||
The court also heard that an internal London Metropolitan Police report described the movement as "a political cult with sinister and dangerous connections."<ref name=Townsend>Townsend, Mark. , ''The Observer'', 31 October 2004.</ref> Detective Inspector Jane Cowell told the court, "It does appear to be quite a sinister organization ... It did appear quite frightening really, especially for impressionable young people." The coroner, Dr. William Dolman, ruled that Duggan had been "sucked into" an extreme political organization—he added that he was using the term "sucked into" advisedly<ref name=inquest/>—and had received fatal head injuries when he ran into the road and was hit by two cars. He added: "What other fact do we know that I must add? I really must add that he had earlier been in a state of terror. It is a word not commonly used in a Coroner's court but no other word would reflect his state of mind at the time."<ref>''Erica Duggan v H.M. Attorney General'', 2008, CO4197/2008, para 10; Samuels, Tim. , BBC News, 12 February 2004, 2:50 mins (note that the BBC and Erica Duggan v H.M. Attorney General 2008 differ slightly in their quoting of the coroner: this article uses the quote from the latter); , ''The Justice for Jeremiah Campaign'', accessed 7 October 2009.</ref> | |||
Under German law, Arlett said that he could investigate further only if there existed "concrete evidence of third-party involvement," and there was none; the Schiller Institute had been mentioned in connection with the death only because Duggan had attended an event of theirs.<ref>BBC ''Newsnight'', 12 February 2004, , 00:04:16.</ref> Officials maintained the same position in 2007 and 2009.<ref name=Degen19April2007>{{in lang|de}} Degen, Wolfgang. , ''Wiesbadener Kurier'', 19 April 2007.</ref><ref name=Cacace27March2009>Cacace, Helen. , ''Channel 4 News'', 27 March 2009, from 00:04:09.</ref> | |||
===First British inquest=== | |||
Duggan's body was flown back to England on 31 March 2003, where a non-forensic post-mortem examination was conducted on 4 April by ] David Shove.<ref name="Skeleton argument 2008">Hyam, Jeremy. "Skeleton argument on behalf of the claimant," ''The Queen on the application of Erica Duggan v HM Attorney General'', CO/4197/2008, London: High Court of Justice, Queen's Bench Division. Archived at .</ref>{{rp|5}} Shove found head injuries, bruising on the backs of the arms and hands, blood in the ]s and ],<ref name=Taylor27Feb2010/> and a full ].<ref name="Duggan v Attorney General 2008">''The Queen on the application of Erica Duggan v HM Attorney General'', CO/4197/2008, London: High Court of Justice, Queen's Bench Division, 5 November 2008. Archived at .</ref>{{rp|21}} A blood sample showed no ] or ].<ref name=Nordhausen4April2007/> | |||
Shove was not called to attend the ], which took place in November 2003.<ref name="Skeleton argument 2008"/>{{rp|34}} Robert Hawthorne, an accident investigator, told the court that Duggan may only have appeared to leap in front of the cars: "The drivers may have perceived that he leapt when in actual fact he was either running to clear the cars or what they saw was the post-impact movement of Jeremiah as he was flung around."<ref name=inquest2003/> The court heard testimony about the conference Duggan had attended. A Metropolitan Police memo was entered as evidence: "The Schiller Institute and the LaRouche Youth Movement ... blames the Jewish people for the Iraq war and all the other problems in the world. Jeremiah's lecture notes and bulletins showed the anti-Semitic nature of ideology."<ref name="BBC Newsnight 12 February 2004, 00:02:23"/> The coroner, Dr. ], delivered a ]: | |||
<blockquote>Jeremiah Joseph Duggan received fatal head injuries when he ran into the road in Wiesbaden and was hit by two private motor cars. What other fact do we know that I must add? I really must add that he had earlier been in a state of terror. It is a word not commonly used in a Coroner's court but no other word would reflect his state of mind at the time.<ref name="Skeleton argument 2008"/>{{rp|7}}<ref name=PA7Nov2003>, Press Association, 7 November 2003.</ref></blockquote> | |||
===Private forensic reviews=== | ===Private forensic reviews=== | ||
Erica Duggan set up the "Justice for Jeremiah" campaign in April 2004 with legal support from the ].<ref>, BBC News, 1 April 2004.</ref><ref>Muir, Hugh. , ''The Guardian'', 2 April 2004.</ref> In 2005 she hand-delivered a list of questions to Shove, the pathologist who had performed the autopsy.<ref name=Capon18May2015/> When she showed him Duggan's autopsy report, he allegedly replied that Duggan had been "severely beaten around the head" and said he had not realised it had been a traffic accident.<ref name=Nordhausen4April2007/><ref name="Duggan v Attorney General 2008"/>{{rp|81}} Shove declined to sign a statement to that effect and apparently could not be located for the second inquest.<ref name="Duggan v Attorney General 2008"/>{{rp|222}}<ref name=Capon18May2015/> | |||
] (left) in March 2007.|alt=A street scene. On the right, an old building with around three floors. On the centre-right, a 13th-century clock tower, the time showing just before 12:14. To the left of the tower in the background, there is a large ferris wheel, and to the left of that in the foreground a modern building around five floors high. In front of the buildings, there are black railings, traffic lights, people crossing the road, and several cars and a black car with a yellow taxi sign on the front]] | |||
The family commissioned five private forensic reports in 2005 and 2007, which they presented on 27 March 2007 to a meeting of British MPs and journalists in ], London.<ref>Nugent, Helen. , ''The Times'', 28 March 2007; Townsend, Mark and Doward, Jamie. , ''The Observer'', 25 March 2007; Paul, Jonny. , ''The Jerusalem Post'', undated; , BBC News, 27 March 2007.</ref> Four of the reports were reviews of 79 photographs taken in Germany by Jurgen Burg, the German accident examiner, and one was a review by a forensic pathologist of the original pathologist's examination. The family also had brown spots analysed that were found on Duggan's passport —the passport was not with him when he died—and it was found to have his blood on it, and that of one other unidentified person, according to the ''Berliner Zeitung''.<ref>Nordhausen, Frank. , ''Berliner Zeitung'', 4 April 2007: "Jeremiahs Reisepass war mit braunen Flecken besprenkelt. Die Mutter ließ die Flecken von einem Forensiker analysieren—und der fand Blut. Ein Vergleich der DNA mit übrig gebliebenen Blutproben von Jeremiah ergab: Das Blut auf den Asservaten stammte von ihm—und von einer weiteren Person. Nur, von wem?" See .</ref> | |||
Six forensic experts hired by Erica examined Shove's autopsy report and photographs taken by accident investigators in Wiesbaden.<ref name=Townsend25March2007>Townsend, Mark; Doward, Jamie. , ''The Observer'', 25 March 2007.</ref><ref>, BBC News, 27 March 2007.</ref><ref name=Taylor20May2015>Taylor, Matthew. , ''The Guardian'', 20 May 2015.</ref> A ] suggested that bruises on Duggan's hands and arms were defensive injuries.<ref name="Duggan v Attorney General 2008"/>{{rp|140}} Paul Canning, a forensic photographer formerly with the Metropolitan Police, and Alan Bayle, a forensic scientist, suggested that Duggan may have died elsewhere and been placed at the scene.<ref name="Duggan v Attorney General 2008"/>{{rp|235–236}} Bayle argued that the Peugeot windscreen had been hit with a ] or a similar instrument,<ref name="Skeleton argument 2008"/>{{rp|35}} while Canning wrote that he found nothing to suggest that the cars had made contact with Duggan.<ref name=Townsend17Sept2006>Townsend, Mark. , ''The Observer'', 17 September 2006.</ref> Two other forensic experts expressed similar views.<ref name="Skeleton argument 2008"/>{{rp|35}} | |||
Paul Canning, a forensic photographer formerly with the Metropolitan police, produced two reports, a 59-page report dated 22 December 2005 that examined the photographs, and a second dated 24 December 2006, an addendum arising from a statement Jurgen Burg made to Erica, namely that the cars involved in the collision had been moved before Burg took the photographs and before he arrived on the scene, which damaged the integrity of the scene, in Canning's view.<ref>Erica Duggan v H.M. Attorney General'', 2008, skeleton argument on behalf of the claimant, High Court of Justice, CO4197/2008, para 12ff.</ref> Canning wrote: | |||
Those views were challenged during a ] hearing in 2008 regarding the application for a new inquest. Contrary to the claim that there was no sign that Duggan had come into contact with the cars, there were "traces on the underside of the Golf," according to Cecilia Ivimy on behalf of the ].<ref name="Duggan v Attorney General 2008"/>{{rp|235}} She described the argument that the accident had been staged as requiring someone to have inflicted head injuries after the phone call to Erica, placed Duggan on the road, inflicted damage to two cars, scattered debris, and created skid marks, all without attracting attention.<ref name="Duggan v Attorney General 2008"/>{{rp|196}} In 2010 the ] called the allegations outlandish.{{refn|group=n|"Eine solche Möglichkeit halte der Senat für abwegig."<ref name=Bundesverfassungsgericht/>}} The '']'' criticised what it saw as the defamation of "two completely innocent motorists."<ref name=Degen13June2015/> | |||
<blockquote>I do not believe that the damage to either vehicle was caused by the impact of Jerry's body. There are no traces of skin, hair, blood or clothing on either vehicle, nor is there any blood, tissue or clothing debris on the road, except for blood in the immediate vicinity of the body, nor are there any tyre marks or signs on either Jerry or on the cars to indicate that either vehicle came into contact with the body. ... I have never photographed a vehicle that has hit a person at speed and caused their death without there being some obvious signs that both body and vehicle have made contact—for example, blood, tissue, hair or clothing traces. Furthermore, I have never seen or photographed a pointed, sharp dent, such as the one on the Peugeot front right-hand door, that has been caused by an impact with a person. In my opinion, this dent is more likely to have been caused by contact from a heavy instrument, or even another vehicle.<ref>Paul, Jonny. , ''The Jerusalem Post'', undated; Townsend, Mark. , ''The Guardian'', 17 September 2006.</ref></blockquote> | |||
===Second British inquest=== | |||
A second review of the photographs was conducted at the family's request by Allan John Bayle, also a forensic scene examiner formerly with the Metropolitan police. In his view, there was no sign of the Golf having hit Duggan, and the windscreen of the Peugeot had been smashed by an instrument, possibly a crowbar. He wrote that there appeared to be no tyre marks on Duggan or his clothing. Another review by Terence Merston, a former scenes-of-crime examiner for the Metropolitan police, said the lack of physical evidence of contact between Duggan and the cars made the death suspicious, in his view. A fourth review of the photographs was conducted by Manfred Tuve, a German forensic scientist, and suggested that Duggan's head injuries did not match the damage to the vehicles.<ref>''Erica Duggan v H.M. Attorney General'', 2008, paras 16, 17 for Bayle; para 18 for Merston; para 18 for Tuve; para 48 (ii) for Bayle's teaching experience at Hendon; para 48 (iii) for Merston's background.</ref> | |||
], ]]] | |||
Relying on the forensic reviews, Erica applied in May 2007 for a new inquest. A cross-party group of ] signed an ] that month calling on the Attorney General to support the application.<ref>Ellman, Louise. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070704155815/http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=33287&SESSION=885 |date=4 July 2007 }}, House of Commons, 16 May 2007.</ref><ref>Muir, Hugh. , ''The Guardian'', 24 May 2007.</ref> After protracted legal action by Erica,<ref name="Duggan v Attorney General 2008"/><ref>Hirsch, Afua. , ''The Guardian'', 6 November 2008.{{pb}} | |||
Hirsch, Afua. , ''The Guardian'', 10 November 2008.{{pb}} | |||
, 17 January 2010, courtesy of justiceforjeremiah.com. Archived by (PDF).</ref> the High Court ordered the new inquest in May 2010.<ref name="BBCMay202010"/><ref name="Duggan v HM Coroner 2010">, EWHC 1263, High Court of Justice, Queen's Bench Division, 20 May 2010. Archived from (PDF) on 10 May 2016.</ref> | |||
The inquest took place over three days in May 2015 at ] before the coroner ].{{refn|group=n|The German police and witnesses, and LaRouche representatives, did not attend the second inquest. Nor did David Shove, the pathologist who performed the autopsy, apparently because he could not be located.<ref name=Capon18May2015>Capon, Felicity. , ''Newsweek'', 18 May 2015.</ref>}} Walker rejected the view that the accident had been staged, calling it implausible.<ref name=Taylor20May2015/><ref name=Taylor21May2015(1)/><ref>, Press Association, 19 May 2015.</ref> The court heard from ], a French expert on ]s, that Duggan might have experienced "intense pressure and psychological violence" at the conference, including one-on-one sessions, hours of lectures, and "being subjected to repeated conspiracy theories and antisemitic discourse."<ref name=Taylor21May2015(1)>Taylor, Matthew. , ''The Guardian'', 21 May 2015.</ref> Matthew Feldman, a historian at ] and expert on the ], testified that, if other participants had learned that Duggan was Jewish, British and had attended the Tavistock Clinic, "it would have been taken very seriously by the movement."<ref name=Taylor21May2015(2)/> Walker delivered a ]: | |||
In a report dated 24 February 2007, Dr Ivaca Milosavljevic, head of forensic medicine at the ] in Belgrade, gave his view of the original examination of the body by Dr. Shove. He wrote that Shove had found an abundant quantity of fresh blood in the lungs, and bruises on the surface of the lungs. In Milosavljevic's view, this suggested that Duggan's death was not instantaneous. He also wrote that there were defence wounds on Duggan's forearms and hands that may have been inflicted by fists, or feet with shoes on.<ref>''Erica Duggan v H.M. Attorney General'', 2008, para 21.</ref> | |||
<blockquote> ... Jeremiah Duggan received fatal injuries following a collision with two cars on the Berliner Strasse and died in a road traffic collision. ... There are a number of unexplained injuries that suggest that Mr. Duggan may have been involved in an altercation at some stage before his death.<ref name=Barfield22May2015/><ref>Varney, Merry. , press release, Leigh Day, 22 May 2015.</ref></blockquote> | |||
===Calls for a second inquest=== | |||
], England's attorney general, gave leave to apply for a new inquest.<ref name=Scotland/>|alt=A woman looking at the camera, from the shoulders up. She has short dark hair, is smiling, and is wearing a black jacket and black top. She is wearing a single string of pearls, a white brooch, white earrings, and a gold chain.]] | |||
In light of the forensic reviews, Erica asked the attorney general in March 2007 for permission to apply to the High Court to order a second inquest,<ref name=Nugent>Nugent, Helen. , ''The Times'', 28 March 2007.</ref> and in May 96 British MPs signed an ] requesting the same.<ref>Muir, Hugh. , ''The Guardian'', 24 May 2007; Ellman, Louise. , House of Commons.</ref> In England the attorney general can only request that the High Court open a fresh inquest; she has no power to quash the finding of the first inquest herself.<ref name=Nugent/> In February 2008, Attorney General ] declined the application, saying it had no reasonable prospect of success, a response she apologized for in 2010. Erica requested judicial review of that decision, which was granted by the High Court in London in November 2008, the court ruling that the case had unusual features.<ref>Hirsch, Afua. , ''The Guardian'', 6 November 2008; Hirsch, Afua. , ''The Guardian'', 10 November 2008.</ref> | |||
He added that Duggan's attendance at the conference, the methods used to recruit young people, Duggan having expressed that he was a Jew and British, and questioning what he was being told "may have had a bearing on Mr. Duggan's death in the sense that it may have put him at risk from members of the organization and caused Mr. Duggan to become distressed and seek to leave."<ref name=Barfield22May2015/> He said that he "totally reject that this was a suicide."<ref>, BBC News, 21 May 2015.</ref> | |||
In January 2010, Scotland granted Erica leave to apply to the High Court to order a second inquest.<ref name=Scotland/> Scotland wrote that there remained unanswered questions as to whether Duggan's injuries were attributable to a car accident, and apologized that the application had not been handled correctly the first time. Erica submitted her new application on 26 February 2010.<ref name=Scotland/> | |||
===Second German investigation=== | |||
Parallel legal challenges in Germany saw the Duggans appeal the decision to close the investigation, rejected by the ] in Frankfurt in July 2006. In November 2006, the ], a Jewish human rights organization, asked ], the German Justice Minister, to re-open it; the Centre's Shimon Samuels wrote that the organization had received messages of concern about the Schiller Institute from the parents of recruits.<ref name=Wiesenthal>, Simon Weisenthal Center, 10 November 2006, accessed 4 November 2009.</ref> Erica's appeal against the decision of the Oberlandesgericht was rejected by the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany on 4 February 2010.<ref name=Wuerzberg2010/> | |||
] in Frankfurt]] | |||
Duggan's family appealed unsuccessfully in 2006 to the ] (''Oberlandesgericht'') in Frankfurt regarding the decision to close the German police investigation. Their appeal against that decision was rejected by Germany's Federal Constitutional Court in 2010.<ref name=Bundesverfassungsgericht>{{in lang|de}} , Bundesverfassungsgericht, 2 BvR 2307/06, 4 February 2010.</ref> | |||
A second appeal to the ''Oberlandesgericht'' succeeded in 2012.<ref name=Mueller19Nov2015>{{in lang|de}} Müller, Daniel. , ''Die Zeit'', 19 November 2015 (; translation archived at ).</ref> In what the '']'' described as an extremely unusual decision, the court ordered the Wiesbaden prosecutor to re-open the inquiry. The court said that a pedestrian leaving the LaRouche offices in Wiesbaden, in the direction of the town centre, would have reached exactly that junction in the Berliner Straße, and "would have had to cross the four-lane road if he did not want or was unable to turn back."<ref name=Schmale18May2014>{{in lang|de}} Schmale, Holger. , ''Berliner Zeitung'', 18 May 2014.</ref> | |||
The new investigation opened in April 2013.<ref name=Knispel20May2015/> As of 2015, ]s were reportedly investigating allegations against two individuals, one German, one French, on suspicion of causing bodily harm resulting in death.<ref name=Knispel20May2015>{{in lang|de}} Knispel, Manfred. , ''Wiesbadener Kurier'', 20 May 2015 ().</ref><ref name=Wasserman29June2015>{{in lang|de}} Andreas Wassermann, , ''Der Spiegel'', 29 June 2015.</ref> Erica criticised the appointment of the same police officer who had presided over the case in 2003,<ref name=Geyer1July2015>{{in lang|de}} Geyer, Steven. , ''Frankfurter Rundschau'', 1 July 2015.</ref> accusing the German authorities of "institutional racism" akin to that of the ] inquiry.<ref>Huggler, Justin. , ''The Daily Telegraph'', 30 June 2015.</ref><ref>, Press Association, 28 May 2014.</ref> In 2014 the ] asked ] ] to arrange an independent investigation, and in 2015 asked the ] to raise the issue with the German government.<ref>Doherty, Rosa. , ''The Jewish Chronicle'', 19 March 2015.</ref><ref>Rashty, Sandy. , ''The Jewish Chronicle'', 1 June 2015.</ref> | |||
==Response== | |||
===LaRouche movement=== | |||
==LaRouche response== | |||
LaRouche's director of security, Jeffrey Steinberg, wrote in June 2004 that Duggan had told the other recruits he had recently been diagnosed with ], and | |||
]]] | |||
on the Sunday before his death had tried to find a pharmacy where he could obtain prescription drugs. He said that, after Duggan's death, his mother met with representatives of the Schiller Institute in what Steinberg called a sympathetic meeting, and that her attitude changed only after British minister ] intervened on behalf of the ].<ref name=Steinberg1>Steinberg, Jeffrey. , ''Executive Intelligence Review'', 25 June 2004.</ref> | |||
In 2006 LaRouche issued a statement saying the allegations were a ] stemming from a campaign orchestrated by ], then ], and Cheney's wife ].<ref>LaRouche, Lyndon H. , LaRouche Political Action Committee, 8 November 2006.</ref> In 2007 the LaRouche movement published a letter from the Metropolitan Police, dated 14 July 2003, that it said was obtained under the British ], in which an officer wrote that he had been assured the case had been fully investigated in Germany.<ref name=SchillerSept2007/> | |||
The Schiller Institute issued a statement in 2007: "The Schiller Institute has always maintained that it had no involvement whatsoever in Jeremiah's death, and has expressed its sympathy to the Duggan family."<ref name=SchillerSept2007>, Schiller Institute, September 2007.</ref> In 2015 a spokesperson told ''Newsweek'' that the allegations were "utterly preposterous": | |||
<blockquote>At no time has Ms Duggan ever presented any evidence or facts that refute the findings of the German authorities concerning the suicide of her son. Instead, over the last 12 years she and her representatives and collaborators have propounded wild conspiracies theories promulgated by the political enemies of Mr LaRouche in and around the British Monarchy and the circles of the now discredited former ] ].<ref name=Capon18May2015/></blockquote> | |||
In November 2006, LaRouche himself issued a statement saying the allegations were a hoax stemming from a campaign orchestrated by ], then the Vice-President of the United States, and Cheney's wife.<ref name=Steinberg1/><ref name=LaRoucheNov2006>LaRouche, Lyndon H. , Lyndon LaRouche political action committee, November 8, 2006.</ref> In March 2007, he said the campaign was led by the "British Fabian friends of Dick Cheney and ]," and was aimed at discrediting him over his opposition to the Iraq war and his criticism of the man-made global warming hypothesis.<ref name=LaRoucheMarch2007>, Lyndon LaRouche political action committee, 25 March 2007.</ref> In September 2007, the LaRouche Political Action Committee published a letter from the London Metropolitan Police (MPS), dated 14 July 2003, that it said was obtained under the British Freedom of Information Act, in which an MPS officer wrote that he had been assured the case had been fully investigated in Germany.<ref>, LaRouche Political Action Committee; see British police letter (pdf).</ref> A statement on the website of the Schiller Institute reads: "The Schiller Institute has always maintained that it had no involvement whatsoever in Jeremiah's death, and has expressed its sympathy to the Duggan family."<ref>, Schiller Institute, September 2007.</ref> | |||
==See also== | |||
===German public prosecutor=== | |||
{{Portal|Germany|United Kingdom}} | |||
In February 2004, Dieter Arlett, the Wiesbaden public prosecutor, told Tim Samuels of the BBC that he can only investigate under German law if there is concrete evidence of third-party involvement, and that there is no evidence of that. Arlett said that, so far as he knew, the Schiller Institute had only been mentioned in connection with the death because Duggan had attended an event of theirs, but no more than this is known. He said the prosecutor's office was 100 percent certain it was suicide, in the sense that Duggan's death was a consequence of his own behaviour, with no one else involved.<ref>Samuels Tim. , BBC News, 24 February 2004; Samuels, Tim. , BBC News, 12 February 2004, from 1:48 mins; also on BBC Newsnight, 12 February 2004, available on ''YouTube'', part 3, 4:16 mins.</ref> In April 2007, Hartmut Ferse of the public prosecutor's office told the ''Wiesbadener Kurier'' that the investigation had been very thorough, and showed the reporter ten thick folders of documents related to the case, telling him that no other apparent suicide had ever caused so much work for his office. He suggested the murder theory had developed because Duggan's mother cannot accept that her son committed suicide–the newspaper referred to the theories as "myths" ("''Legende''"), adding that they keep gaining adherents but no evidence.<ref name=Degen/> In an interview in March 2009, Ferse's deputy, Klaus Schulte, stressed again that there was no evidence linking the Schiller Institute to Duggan's death.<ref>Cacace, Helen. , ''Channel 4 News'', 27 March 2009, from 4:00 mins.</ref> | |||
* ] | |||
==Notes== | ==Notes== | ||
{{reflist| |
{{reflist|group=n}} | ||
==References== | ==References== | ||
{{ |
{{reflist|25em}} | ||
*Bayles, Phil (2010). , London Regional News, 22 January 2010. | |||
*BBC News (2007). , 27 March 2007. | |||
*BBC News (2010). , 21 January 2010. | |||
*Blum, Howard (1979). , ''The New York Times'', 7 October 1979. | |||
*Burdman, Mark (1999). , ''Executive Intelligence Review'', 13 August 1999, accessed 5 March 2010. | |||
*Coroner's court , The Justice for Jeremiah Campaign, accessed 7 March 2010. | |||
*Degen, Wolfgang (2007). , ''Wiesbadener Kurier'', 19 April 2007 (German), accessed 5 March 2010; , accessed 5 March 2010. | |||
*Ellman, Louise. , House of Commons, EDM 1498, 16 May 2007, accessed 7 March 2010. | |||
*''Erica Duggan v H.M. Attorney General'' (2008). Skeleton argument on behalf of the claimant, High Court of Justice, CO4197/2008. | |||
*Hirsch, Afua (2008a). , ''The Guardian'', 6 November 2008. | |||
*Hirsch, Afua (2008b). , ''The Guardian'', 10 November 2008. | |||
*Horowitz, Irving Louis (1981). , ''Society'', Vol 18, Number 4, Springer New York, May 1981. | |||
*Kelsey, Tim (1993). , ''The Independent'', 4 October 1993. | |||
*Kirby, Terry (2003). , ''The Independent'', 28 August 2003. | |||
*Kirby, Terry (2004). , ''The Independent'', 21 July 2004. | |||
*Lerman, Antony (1988). in Frankel, William (ed.). ''Survey of Jewish Affairs 1987''. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1988. | |||
*Leigh Day & Co. (2010). , 21 January 2010, accessed 6 March 2010. | |||
*Midgley, Carol (2003). , ''The Times'', 7 November 2003. | |||
*Montgomery, Paul L. (1974). , ''The New York Times'', 20 January 1974. | |||
*Muir, Hugh (2007). , ''The Guardian'', 24 May 2007. | |||
*Muir, Hugh (2009). , ''The Guardian'', 1 July 2009. | |||
*Nordhausen, Frank (2007). , ''Berliner Zeitung'', 4 April 2007 (German), accessed 5 March 2010; , accessed 5 March 2010. | |||
*Nugent, Helen (2007). , ''The Times'', March 28, 2007. | |||
*O'Donovan, Diedre (2004). , ''Sunday Mirror'', 8 August 2004. | |||
*Paul, Jonny. , ''The Jerusalem Post'', undated, accessed 6 March 2010. | |||
*Rosen, Robyn (2010). , ''Jewish Chronicle'', 4 March 2010. | |||
*Rosenfeld, Stephen (1976). , ''The Washington Post'', 24 September 1976. | |||
*Rutty, Guy N. (2006). , ''Forensic Science, Medicine, and Pathology'', Volume 2, Number 2, June 2006. | |||
*Samuels, Tim (2004a). , BBC News, 12 February 2004, accessed 7 March 2010. | |||
*Samuels, Tim (2004b). Jeremiah Duggan's death and Lyndon LaRouche], BBC ''Newsnight'', 12 February 2004; this is an extended version of the news item above. | |||
*Scotland, Patricia. , letter to Erica Duggan, 17 January 2010, accessed 5 March 2010. | |||
*Simon Wiesenthal Centre (2006). , 10 November 2006, accessed 5 March 2010. | |||
*Smith, David James (2004). , ''The Sunday Times'', 18 July 2004. | |||
*Taylor, Jerome (2010). ''The Independent '' 27 February 2010. | |||
*''The New York Times'' (1994). , January 27, 1994. | |||
*''Time'' magazine (1989). , ''Time'' magazine, 6 February 1989. | |||
*Townsend, Mark (2004). , ''The Observer'', 31 October 2004. | |||
*Townsend, Mark (2006). , ''The Guardian'', 17 September 2006. | |||
*Townsend, Mark and Doward, Jamie (2007). , ''The Observer'', 25 March 2007. | |||
*Tylden, Elizabeth (2003). , Coroner's Court, Hornsey, London, 4 November 2003, accessed 5 March 2010. | |||
*Witt, April (2004). , ''The Washington Post'', 24 October 2004. | |||
*Würzberg, Ulrike (2010). , ''Usinger Anzeiger'', 24 February 2010 (German); , accessed 5 March 2010. | |||
==Further reading== | |||
;LaRouche movement references | |||
{{refbegin}} | |||
*LaRouche, Lyndon (17 September 2006). , LaRouche Political Action Committee, accessed 5 March 2010. | |||
* , Duggan family website. | |||
*LaRouche, Lyndon (8 November 2006). , LaRouche Political Action Committee, accessed 5 March 2010. | |||
* |
* , ''Executive Intelligence Review'', LaRouche movement. | ||
*LaRouche Political Action Committee (25 March 2007). , 25 March 2007"], accessed 5 March 2010. | |||
*LaRouche Political Action Committee (18 September 2007). , accessed 5 March 2010. | |||
*LaRouche Political Action Committee (25 September 2007). , accessed 5 March 2010. | |||
*Schiller Institute (September 2007). , accessed 8 March 2010. | |||
*Steinberg, Jeffrey (25 June 2004). , ''Executive Intelligence Review'', accessed 5 March 2010. | |||
*Steinberg, Jeffrey (18 March 2005). , ''Executive Intelligence Review'', accessed 5 March 2010. | |||
{{refend}} | {{refend}} | ||
==Further reading== | |||
{{refbegin|2}} | |||
*, accessed 5 March 2010. | |||
*, '']'', LaRouche movement, accessed 5 March 2010. | |||
*, accessed 5 March 2010. | |||
*, accessed 5 March 2010. | |||
*BBC Radio 4 (2004). , 29 November 2004, accessed 5 March 2010. | |||
*Beyes-Corleis, Aglaja (1994). ''Verirrt: Mein Leben in einer radikalen Politorganisation''. Herder. ISBN 3451042789 | |||
*Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court of Germany) (2010). , 4 February 2010, accessed 10 March 2010; . | |||
*Bundesverfassungsgericht (2010). , 23 February 2010, accessed 10 March 2010; . | |||
*German television (2007). , ''YouTube'', accessed 6 March 2010. | |||
*LaRouche Political Action Committee (2010). , 2 March 2010. | |||
*Lorscheid, Helmut and Müller, Leo (1986). ''Deckname Schiller: Die Deutschen Patrioten des Lyndon LaRouche''. Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag GmbH. ISBN 3499159163 | |||
{{refend}} | |||
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{{LaRouche movement|state=uncollapsed}} | {{LaRouche movement|state=uncollapsed}} | ||
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duggan, Jeremiah}} | {{DEFAULTSORT:Duggan, Jeremiah}} | ||
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Latest revision as of 16:16, 11 October 2024
2003 death in Wiesbaden, Germany
Jeremiah Joseph Duggan | |
---|---|
Born | (1980-11-10)10 November 1980 North London, England, UK |
Died | 27 March 2003(2003-03-27) (aged 22) Berliner Straße, Bundesstraße 455, Wiesbaden, Hesse, Germany (50°03′38″N 8°16′59″E / 50.060617°N 8.283164°E / 50.060617; 8.283164) |
Resting place | Highgate Cemetery, London, England, UK |
Nationality | British |
Movement | LaRouche movement |
Parent(s) | Erica Duggan, Hugo Duggan |
Jeremiah Joseph Duggan (10 November 1980 – 27 March 2003) was a British student in Paris who died during a visit to Wiesbaden, Hesse, Germany, after being struck by several motorists on a dual carriageway. The circumstances of Duggan's death became a matter of dispute because, at the time he died, he was attending a youth "cadre" school organised by the LaRouche movement, an international network led by the American political activist Lyndon LaRouche.
German police concluded that Duggan had committed suicide after running several kilometres (miles) from the apartment in which he had been staying, then jumping in front of early-morning traffic. A British coroner rejected a suicide verdict in 2003 after hearing the London Metropolitan Police describe the LaRouche movement as a political cult. Duggan telephoned his mother, Erica Duggan, fifty minutes before he died, apparently distressed about his involvement in it.
Arguing that German police had not investigated the case thoroughly, Erica Duggan commissioned forensic reports which suggested the car crash might have been staged and that Duggan had died elsewhere. After protracted litigation in the UK and Germany, the High Court in London ordered a second inquest in 2010, and in 2012 the Frankfurt Higher Regional Court ordered the Wiesbaden police to reopen their investigation. In 2015 the coroner upheld that Duggan had been killed in the accident, but rejected a suicide verdict, adding that unexplained injuries suggested an "altercation at some stage before his death."
The LaRouche movement attributed criticism of its involvement in the case to LaRouche's political opponents, including former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and former US Vice President Dick Cheney, who they say sought to discredit LaRouche over his opposition to the 2003 Iraq War and his criticism of the scientific consensus on anthropogenic global warming.
Background
Duggan family
Jeremiah Duggan was born in North London to Erica Duggan, a Jewish schoolteacher from South Africa; and her husband, Hugo Duggan, who was raised in Ireland. Erica's father left Berlin in 1933; many family members were killed during the Holocaust. Erica, in turn, left South Africa due to apartheid. She, Hugo, Jeremiah and his two older sisters made their home in the London suburb of Golders Green. Duggan's parents divorced when he was aged 7.
Duggan attended Fitzjohn's Primary School in Hampstead, Quainton School for Boys, and won a scholarship to Christ's Hospital school in Sussex as a boarder. After his A-levels, he spent time in India then trained in Israel as a youth leader. Duggan was interested in the arts, music and the theatre, and in 2001 moved to Paris to study French at the British Institute and English at the Sorbonne. Duggan's mother said he became interested in politics after 9/11; his strong opposition to the Iraq War led him to become involved with the LaRouche movement.
LaRouche movement
Lyndon LaRouche and his German wife, Helga Zepp-LaRouche, ran a global political network of publications, committees and a youth cadre based in Leesburg, Virginia, United States, and in Wiesbaden, Hesse, Germany. The movement in Germany is represented by the Schiller Institute and the Bürgerrechtsbewegung Solidarität party. LaRouche stood as a presidential candidate in the US eight times between 1976 and 2004. He was jailed in 1989 for conspiracy to commit fraud, a prosecution he claimed was politically motivated.
From the 1970s the movement became associated with the promotion of conspiracy theories, and at times with the use of violence against opponents, the fraudulent use of donations, and antisemitism. There was criticism of its recruitment methods; according to The Sunday Times, recruits were isolated from their families, encouraged to give up their studies, and subjected to intense verbal pressure before being asked to accept the LaRouche worldview. Members said the allegations were misrepresentations, and LaRouche strongly denied the charge of antisemitism.
LaRouche was particularly critical of Britain and of the Tavistock Institute in London, a psychotherapy and social sciences charity that the movement associated with British intelligence. In 1999 a LaRouche publication claimed Britain's Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) was threatening to assassinate LaRouche, probably with backing from the British royal family. Duggan's family came to believe that this worldview affected the movement's perception of Duggan when the conference participants learned that he was a British Jew who, as a child, had attended the Tavistock Clinic for counselling when his parents divorced.
Duggan's involvement with the movement
Nouvelle Solidarité
Duggan's first contact with the LaRouche movement was in Paris in January 2003, when he bought a copy of the LaRouche French-language newspaper, Nouvelle Solidarité, from a booth near the British Institute, outside the Invalides station on the Paris Métro. The man who sold him the paper was Benoit Chalifoux, a writer for the newspaper and one of the movement's "organizers", or recruiters.
Duggan was strongly opposed to the Iraq War, as were Chalifoux and his group of friends from the LaRouche movement. Protests were taking place worldwide in the weeks leading up to the invasion of Iraq on 20 March 2003. Duggan began seeing more of Chalifoux's group and was invited to attend a Schiller Institute conference near Wiesbaden, the LaRouche movement's European headquarters. Duggan and his parents assumed it was an anti-war conference. His mother searched for material about LaRouche on the web in vain; possibly she or her son misspelled the name as "Laroche."
Conference
Duggan and Chalifoux travelled to Wiesbaden on 21 March with eight other men. Duggan stayed in a youth hostel at first, then with two other recruits in an apartment belonging to two Schiller Institute managers.
The conference, "How to Reconstruct a Bankrupt World," was held in Bad Schwalbach, near Wiesbaden, from 21 to 23 March. LaRouche was the keynote speaker, with a speech entitled "Physical Geometry as Strategy." According to April Witt in The Washington Post, he told the audience that US President George W. Bush was an unreformed drunk (he is a teetotaler), Woodrow Wilson had founded the Ku Klux Klan from the White House, John F. Kennedy was killed by a domestic American operation, and the US was using the war in Iraq to "ignite catastrophic global warfare." The plot to launch a world war was being influenced, he said, by people who "like Hitler, admire Nietzsche, but being Jewish ... couldn't qualify for Nazi Party leadership, even though their fascism was absolutely pure! As extreme as Hitler! They sent them to the United States." The people behind the plot were the "independent central-banking-system crowd, the slime-mold," he said, the same people who had brought Hitler to power in the 1930s.
Youth cadre school
After the conference, Duggan attended a LaRouche Youth Movement cadre school in Wiesbaden with 60–70 others. Chalifoux, the recruiter who had accompanied him to Germany, returned to Paris. According to another potential recruit, there were hours of lectures, seminars and one-on-one meetings every day, as well as chanting and singing.
Duggan reportedly stood out because he was British and Jewish. A document from the Metropolitan Police, submitted to the first inquest, said the Schiller Institute and LaRouche Youth Movement blamed the Jewish people for the Iraq war and other global issues, and that "Jeremiah's lecture notes and bulletins showed the anti-Semitic nature of ideology." According to Duggan's mother, the Schiller Institute's scientific adviser, Jonathan Tennenbaum, told her that when Duggan heard the Jews being blamed for the war during a seminar, he had stood up and said, "But I'm a Jew!" One participant said the others put him "through the wringer" because of it.
According to Witt, Duggan may have been placed under further pressure because he told the others he had attended the Tavistock Clinic as a child for counselling when his parents divorced. Duggan's conference notes showed that someone at the conference referred to the Tavistock as a "brainwashing" centre.
Incident
Visit to Frankfurt
Duggan and his French girlfriend had planned to meet in Paris on Tuesday, 25 March. Instead he called her that day, two days before his death, to say he had no money for the fare home and was unable to get a ride until Sunday. He told her "very serious things" were happening and that he would explain when he returned.
On 26 March, Duggan accompanied LaRouche members to Frankfurt to hand out LaRouche literature in the streets, then to see the Rembrandt collection at the Städel museum. When one member asked what he thought of the artwork, he started crying. The woman invited him to step outside for some air. Duggan kept repeating that he did not trust LaRouche and said he wanted to go back to England. She told him he was free to leave and could phone her if he wanted to, which seemed to reassure him. She last saw him with one of his roommates sitting on the steps of the museum around 8:30 pm.
Duggan's telephone calls
One of the Schiller Institute managers in whose apartment Duggan was staying told The Sunday Times that he and his roommate returned to the house around midnight. They had no key so the manager opened the door for them. According to the roommate (speaking after Duggan's death to his girlfriend), Duggan could not sleep and kept switching the lights on and off. He repeated that he was unable to trust LaRouche and felt trapped.
At around 4:20 am—by now Thursday, 27 March—Duggan called his girlfriend on the roommate's mobile phone. She said he was speaking very quietly; sounded agitated and confused; complained that he no longer knew what was true and real; and that someone was conducting experiments with computers and magnetic waves, perhaps on him. She asked him to take a train to Paris in the morning. According to the roommate, Duggan then telephoned his mother, after which he ran out of the house. Mrs. Duggan said the first call came at 5:24 am German time (4:24 am in the UK):
And he said, "Mum, I'm in ... big trouble ... You know this Nouvelle Solidarité?" ... He said, "I can't do this ... I want out." And at that point the phone was cut. And then it rang back again almost immediately. And the first thing that he said that time was, "Mum, I'm frightened." I realised he was in such danger that I said to him, "I love you." And then he said, "I want to see you now." ... I said, "Well, where are you, Jerry?" He said, "Wiesbaden." And I said, "How do you spell it?" And he said, "W-I-E-S." And then the phone was cut.
After the calls, according to the roommate, Duggan asked, "Why did you choose me?" and said he wanted to go out for a cigarette. The roommate went too but pressed a doorbell by accident while looking for the light switch at the bottom of the stairs; he said this appeared to make Duggan panic and he ran off. He said he ran after Duggan briefly before going back to the apartment.
Death
The fatal collisions were reported at 06:14 am just before the sliproad where the Berliner Strasse becomes Bundesstraße 455. The Peugeot and Golf are parked ahead in the direction of the town centre.The 06:00 and 06:14 collisions; the apartment (top left) in which Duggan had been staying; and the LaRouche offices (bottom right).Wiesbadener KurierMap of the incident
from the Wiesbaden police perspective
Just over thirty minutes later, at about 6:00 am, two drivers heading into Wiesbaden town centre saw a man run toward them on the Berliner Straße (Bundesstraße 455), a four-lane dual carriageway. The spot, near an Aral garage, was around five kilometres (c. three miles) from the apartment in which Duggan had been staying, and not far from the LaRouche offices in the Wiesbaden suburb of Erbenheim. One of the drivers said Duggan ran toward him with outstretched arms. The car, a BMW, clipped him with the wing mirror. He appears to have fallen, but got up and continued running toward the traffic that was heading into town. Both drivers reported the incidents to police.
At 6:14 am, as the police were taking details, they were told that a man had run into a red Peugeot further ahead on the same road. The driver saw Duggan move onto the road in front of him. The driver swerved from the inside lane to the outside, but the driver said Duggan leapt in front of the car, arms raised and mouth open. The driver hit him, denting the passenger door and shattering the passenger window and windscreen, and throwing Duggan into the path of a blue Volkswagen Golf, which ran over him. He was certified dead at the scene at 6:35 am.
The view of the German police was that Duggan had arrived at that stretch of road after running 5 km (3 miles) from the apartment. Duggan's family complained that the police had failed to establish that. Other allegations included that he had spent the night at the nearby LaRouche offices and ran from there to the road, and that he had run onto the road from a car. Forensic reports commissioned by Erica Duggan suggested that he may have died elsewhere and been moved onto the road after the fact, a position the coroner rejected in 2015.
Early response
Within minutes of Duggan's second telephone, Erica contacted the British emergency services and was advised to call her local police station in Colindale, Barnet. She told them she believed her son was in danger. They transferred her to the Metropolitan Police at Scotland Yard, but when she explained he had become involved with Nouvelle Solidarité they had no idea what she meant.
At 7:40 am Duggan's roommate telephoned his girlfriend in Paris to ask if she had heard from him; he said Duggan had left the apartment and had not returned. At around 11 am Erica rang the roommate's mobile phone; because he did not speak English, he passed it to a Schiller Institute manager. The manager reportedly told her the group was a news agency, adding, "We cannot take responsibility for the actions of individuals. We think your son has psychological problems." She said she would call the local hospitals to see whether Duggan had been admitted. Shortly after this, the manager and Duggan's roommate, along with another member, handed his passport, bag and rucksack to the Wiesbaden police station.
The manager told The Independent: "I believed he had psychological problems, based on the conversations he had with people. I don't know what happened on the night he died, but the Schiller Institute played no part in his death." The police report stated that the manager told them Erica had called "since he had severe asthma and was not getting in touch with her." Later Erica said her son had not had asthma since childhood.
According to one of those present, around 25 members of the movement were asked to assemble in the local LaRouche office that morning, in a meeting attended by Helga Zepp-LaRouche. They were told that Duggan had killed himself. A LaRouche recruiter from Paris told the meeting that Duggan had been to the Tavistock Clinic, apparently giving the impression that he had been there recently. Zepp-LaRouche reportedly said that Duggan might have been sent from London to harm LaRouche.
Inquiries
First German investigation
Wiesbaden police reportedly concluded within three hours that Duggan committed suicide. LaRouche officials were said to have told police that Duggan had been a patient at the Tavistock Clinic and had suffered from "suicidal impulses." That view of him shaped the rest of the inquiry, according to The Sunday Times.
An emergency doctor gave the cause of death as "open, cranio-cerebral trauma following traffic accident," injuries that he said were consistent with the accident as described by the drivers. The accident investigator noted marks on Duggan's clothes consistent with having been in contact with the underside of a vehicle. The braking had left marks on the road; Duggan was lying about 23 metres (25 yards) beyond the point of impact. The investigator took 79 photographs of the scene, although the cars were moved before he arrived.
German authorities did not conduct an autopsy because the cause of death had been established and there was no evidence of foul play. His clothes were not returned to his family and were assumed to have been destroyed. The police took no formal witness statements. Witness evidence was recorded as "brief, sometimes contradictory, notes," according to The Daily Telegraph. Nothing suggested that the drivers had any connection to the LaRouche movement or Duggan. The Wiesbaden public prosecutor closed the case after three months. In 2004 he told the BBC:
We are 100 percent certain that it is suicide, suicide as we call it, that as a consequence of his own behaviour, and with no one else involved, he threw himself in front of a car, of several cars, and died on the third attempt.
Under German law, Arlett said that he could investigate further only if there existed "concrete evidence of third-party involvement," and there was none; the Schiller Institute had been mentioned in connection with the death only because Duggan had attended an event of theirs. Officials maintained the same position in 2007 and 2009.
First British inquest
Duggan's body was flown back to England on 31 March 2003, where a non-forensic post-mortem examination was conducted on 4 April by pathologist David Shove. Shove found head injuries, bruising on the backs of the arms and hands, blood in the lungs and stomach, and a full bladder. A blood sample showed no drugs or alcohol.
Shove was not called to attend the inquest, which took place in November 2003. Robert Hawthorne, an accident investigator, told the court that Duggan may only have appeared to leap in front of the cars: "The drivers may have perceived that he leapt when in actual fact he was either running to clear the cars or what they saw was the post-impact movement of Jeremiah as he was flung around." The court heard testimony about the conference Duggan had attended. A Metropolitan Police memo was entered as evidence: "The Schiller Institute and the LaRouche Youth Movement ... blames the Jewish people for the Iraq war and all the other problems in the world. Jeremiah's lecture notes and bulletins showed the anti-Semitic nature of ideology." The coroner, Dr. William Dolman, delivered a narrative verdict:
Jeremiah Joseph Duggan received fatal head injuries when he ran into the road in Wiesbaden and was hit by two private motor cars. What other fact do we know that I must add? I really must add that he had earlier been in a state of terror. It is a word not commonly used in a Coroner's court but no other word would reflect his state of mind at the time.
Private forensic reviews
Erica Duggan set up the "Justice for Jeremiah" campaign in April 2004 with legal support from the British Foreign Office. In 2005 she hand-delivered a list of questions to Shove, the pathologist who had performed the autopsy. When she showed him Duggan's autopsy report, he allegedly replied that Duggan had been "severely beaten around the head" and said he had not realised it had been a traffic accident. Shove declined to sign a statement to that effect and apparently could not be located for the second inquest.
Six forensic experts hired by Erica examined Shove's autopsy report and photographs taken by accident investigators in Wiesbaden. A forensic pathologist suggested that bruises on Duggan's hands and arms were defensive injuries. Paul Canning, a forensic photographer formerly with the Metropolitan Police, and Alan Bayle, a forensic scientist, suggested that Duggan may have died elsewhere and been placed at the scene. Bayle argued that the Peugeot windscreen had been hit with a crowbar or a similar instrument, while Canning wrote that he found nothing to suggest that the cars had made contact with Duggan. Two other forensic experts expressed similar views.
Those views were challenged during a High Court hearing in 2008 regarding the application for a new inquest. Contrary to the claim that there was no sign that Duggan had come into contact with the cars, there were "traces on the underside of the Golf," according to Cecilia Ivimy on behalf of the Attorney General. She described the argument that the accident had been staged as requiring someone to have inflicted head injuries after the phone call to Erica, placed Duggan on the road, inflicted damage to two cars, scattered debris, and created skid marks, all without attracting attention. In 2010 the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany called the allegations outlandish. The Wiesbadener Kurier criticised what it saw as the defamation of "two completely innocent motorists."
Second British inquest
Relying on the forensic reviews, Erica applied in May 2007 for a new inquest. A cross-party group of MPs signed an early day motion that month calling on the Attorney General to support the application. After protracted legal action by Erica, the High Court ordered the new inquest in May 2010.
The inquest took place over three days in May 2015 at North London Coroner's Court before the coroner Andrew Walker. Walker rejected the view that the accident had been staged, calling it implausible. The court heard from Catherine Picard, a French expert on cults, that Duggan might have experienced "intense pressure and psychological violence" at the conference, including one-on-one sessions, hours of lectures, and "being subjected to repeated conspiracy theories and antisemitic discourse." Matthew Feldman, a historian at Teesside University and expert on the far right, testified that, if other participants had learned that Duggan was Jewish, British and had attended the Tavistock Clinic, "it would have been taken very seriously by the movement." Walker delivered a narrative verdict:
... Jeremiah Duggan received fatal injuries following a collision with two cars on the Berliner Strasse and died in a road traffic collision. ... There are a number of unexplained injuries that suggest that Mr. Duggan may have been involved in an altercation at some stage before his death.
He added that Duggan's attendance at the conference, the methods used to recruit young people, Duggan having expressed that he was a Jew and British, and questioning what he was being told "may have had a bearing on Mr. Duggan's death in the sense that it may have put him at risk from members of the organization and caused Mr. Duggan to become distressed and seek to leave." He said that he "totally reject that this was a suicide."
Second German investigation
Duggan's family appealed unsuccessfully in 2006 to the Higher Regional Court (Oberlandesgericht) in Frankfurt regarding the decision to close the German police investigation. Their appeal against that decision was rejected by Germany's Federal Constitutional Court in 2010. A second appeal to the Oberlandesgericht succeeded in 2012. In what the Berliner Zeitung described as an extremely unusual decision, the court ordered the Wiesbaden prosecutor to re-open the inquiry. The court said that a pedestrian leaving the LaRouche offices in Wiesbaden, in the direction of the town centre, would have reached exactly that junction in the Berliner Straße, and "would have had to cross the four-lane road if he did not want or was unable to turn back."
The new investigation opened in April 2013. As of 2015, prosecutors were reportedly investigating allegations against two individuals, one German, one French, on suspicion of causing bodily harm resulting in death. Erica criticised the appointment of the same police officer who had presided over the case in 2003, accusing the German authorities of "institutional racism" akin to that of the Stephen Lawrence murder inquiry. In 2014 the Board of Deputies of British Jews asked Chancellor Angela Merkel to arrange an independent investigation, and in 2015 asked the British Foreign Secretary to raise the issue with the German government.
LaRouche response
In 2006 LaRouche issued a statement saying the allegations were a hoax stemming from a campaign orchestrated by Dick Cheney, then Vice President of the United States, and Cheney's wife Lynne. In 2007 the LaRouche movement published a letter from the Metropolitan Police, dated 14 July 2003, that it said was obtained under the British Freedom of Information Act, in which an officer wrote that he had been assured the case had been fully investigated in Germany.
The Schiller Institute issued a statement in 2007: "The Schiller Institute has always maintained that it had no involvement whatsoever in Jeremiah's death, and has expressed its sympathy to the Duggan family." In 2015 a spokesperson told Newsweek that the allegations were "utterly preposterous":
At no time has Ms Duggan ever presented any evidence or facts that refute the findings of the German authorities concerning the suicide of her son. Instead, over the last 12 years she and her representatives and collaborators have propounded wild conspiracies theories promulgated by the political enemies of Mr LaRouche in and around the British Monarchy and the circles of the now discredited former prime minister Tony Blair.
See also
Notes
- "Eine solche Möglichkeit halte der Senat für abwegig."
- The German police and witnesses, and LaRouche representatives, did not attend the second inquest. Nor did David Shove, the pathologist who performed the autopsy, apparently because he could not be located.
References
- ^ (in German) Müller, Daniel. "Warum starb Jeremiah?", Die Zeit, 19 November 2015 (translation; translation archived at ).
- Muir, Hugh. "Mystery death of anti-war student", The Guardian, 12 July 2003.
- ^ Kirby, Terry. "The lost boy", The Independent, 28 August 2003.
- Kirby, Terry. "Coroner denounces cult suicide claim", The Independent, 4 November 2003.
- Muir, Hugh. "British student did not commit suicide, says coroner", The Guardian, 5 November 2003.
- ^ "Fresh inquest into student death", BBC News, 20 May 2010.
- ^ (in German) Schmale, Holger. "LaRouche-Sekte: Vom Kader-Seminar in den Tod", Berliner Zeitung, 18 May 2014.
- ^ Taylor, Matthew. "Jeremiah Duggan's death not a suicide, British coroner rules", The Guardian, 21 May 2015.
- ^ Barfield, Tom. "Family's ten-year quest for truth about dead son", The Local, 22 May 2015.
- Steinberg, Jeffrey. "Behind the Kelly/Wilson/Duggan Affair: Anatomy of a Defamation Campaign" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 January 2009.
- "London 'Friends of Dick Cheney and Al Gore' Behind New Slander of LaRouche". Executive Intelligence Review. 25 March 2007. pp. 40–42. Archived from the original on 27 April 2007.
- Samuels, Tim. Newsnight, Newsnight, BBC News, 12 February 2004, 3/3, 00:05:19.
- ^ Erica Duggan's profile, blogger.com. Retrieved 6 January 2010.
- ^ "His life", justiceforjeremiah.com.
- ^ (in German) Nordhausen, Frank. "Jeremiahs letzte Worte", Berliner Zeitung, 11 May 2004.
- (in German) Zylbersztajn, Daniel. "Revision eines Todesfalls", Jüdische Allgemeine, 4 June 2015.
- "Jeremiah Duggan's mother criticises new German death probe", BBC News, 28 May 2014.
- ^ Witt, April. "No Joke," Washington Post Magazine, 24 October 2004, 12–17, 36–42. Archived at WebCite.
- BBC Newsnight, 12 February 2004, 1/3, 00:01:49; also 2/3, 3/3.
- ^ Taylor, Jerome. "Mystery of dead Briton and the right-wing cult", The Independent, 27 February 2010.
- Tarr, Dave; Benenson, Bob. Elections A to Z, CQ Press, 2012, 303–304.
- "Debtor's Prison: Lyndon LaRouche", Time magazine, 6 February 1989."LaRouche Is Released And Plans Campaign", The New York Times, 27 January 1994.
- Ciment, Jim. "Lyndon LaRouche," in Peter Knight (ed.), Conspiracy Theories in American History: An Encyclopedia, ABC-CLIO, 2003, 423–424.
- Minz, John. "Ideological Odyssey: From Old Left to Far Right", The Washington Post, 14 January 1985.
- ^ Smith, David James. "Motorway madness", The Sunday Times, 18 July 2004. Archived at the (Internet Archive).
- LaRouche, Lyndon H. Jr. "On The Press Hoax Against the Pope: Britain's Bernard Lewis & His Crimes," LaRouche Political Action Committee, 17 September 2006. Archived at the Internet Archive.
- ^ Kirby, Terry. "The cult and the candidate", The Independent, 21 July 2004.
- Burdman, Mark. "British Magazine Publishes Death Threat vs. LaRouche", Executive Intelligence Review, 13 August 1999.
- Louise Osmond, "Lost Abroad: The Parents' Story," Cutting Edge, Channel 4, 1 April 2010, 2/5, 00:01:28 (1/5, 3/5, 4/5, 5/5).
- Channel 4 Cutting Edge, 1 April 2010, 2/5, 00:05:40–00:07:10.
- Taylor, Matthew. "Student Jeremiah Duggan feared he was in trouble before 'suicide', says mother", The Guardian, 20 May 2015.
- ^ BBC Newsnight, 12 February 2004, 3/3, 00:02:23.
- ^ (in German) Nordhausen, Frank. "Ermittlungen einer Mutter: Der mysteriöse Todesfall Jeremiah Duggon", Berliner Zeitung, 4 April 2007.
- Channel 4 Cutting Edge, 1 April 2010, 3/5, 00:06:25.
- BBC Newsnight, 12 February 2004, 1/3, 00:05:10; 2/3, 00:00:00 mins.
- ^ Foggo, Daniel. "German police probe into British student's death was 'inadequate'", The Daily Telegraph, 9 November 2003.
- BBC Newsnight, 12 February 2004, 2/3, 00:02:08.
Erica Duggan interview, BBC Radio 4, 29 November 2004 (courtesy link).
For Duggan's grandmother, who heard the call, Channel 4 Cutting Edge, 1 April 2010, 3/5, 00:06:50.
- ^ The Queen on the application of Erica Duggan v HM Attorney General, CO/4197/2008, London: High Court of Justice, Queen's Bench Division, 5 November 2008. Archived at WebCite.
- BBC Newsnight, 12 February 2004, from 00:01:38.
- ^ (in German) Degen, Wolfgang. "Nur die Legende hat ein langes Leben", Wiesbadener Kurier, 19 April 2007.
- (in German) Lorscheid, Helmut. "Tod auf der Schnellstraße", Heise Online, 14 November 2003.
- ^ HM Coroner for Northern District of Greater London, Hornsey, 6 November 2003. "Partial inquest transcript". Archived from the original on 17 December 2005.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ (in German) Degen, Wolfgang. "Wiesbaden: Faszination Verschwörung – Seit zwölf Jahren bietet Unfalltod eines britischen Studenten Anlass zu Spekulationen" Archived 5 October 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Wiesbadener Kurier, 13 June 2015.
- ^ Hyam, Jeremy. "Skeleton argument on behalf of the claimant," The Queen on the application of Erica Duggan v HM Attorney General, CO/4197/2008, London: High Court of Justice, Queen's Bench Division. Archived at WebCite.
- ^ Capon, Felicity. "Inquest to begin into mysterious death of British Jewish student 'lured away by dangerous cult'", Newsweek, 18 May 2015.
- BBC Newsnight, 12 February 2004, 2/3, 00:02:37.
- BBC Newsnight, 12 February 2004, 3/3, 00:04:16.
- Cacace, Helen. "Remembering Jeremiah Duggan", Channel 4 News, 27 March 2009, from 00:04:09.
- "Student died 'in state of terror'", Press Association, 7 November 2003.
- "Mother to get Foreign Office help", BBC News, 1 April 2004.
- Muir, Hugh. "FO steps up pressure over student's death", The Guardian, 2 April 2004.
- Townsend, Mark; Doward, Jamie. "New evidence shows 'suicide' student was beaten to death", The Observer, 25 March 2007.
- "Student beaten to death", BBC News, 27 March 2007.
- ^ Taylor, Matthew. "Germany 'suicide' student may have been chased and beaten, inquest told", The Guardian, 20 May 2015.
- Townsend, Mark. "Cult riddle of student's death", The Observer, 17 September 2006.
- ^ (in German) In dem Verfahren über die Verfassungsbeschwerde der Frau D ..., Bundesverfassungsgericht, 2 BvR 2307/06, 4 February 2010.
- Ellman, Louise. "Text of the early day motion" Archived 4 July 2007 at the Wayback Machine, House of Commons, 16 May 2007.
- Muir, Hugh. "MPs want inquiry on Jewish man's death in Germany to be reopened", The Guardian, 24 May 2007.
- Hirsch, Afua. "Family of student killed in Germany to challenge refusal for new inquest", The Guardian, 6 November 2008.
Hirsch, Afua. "Challenge to attorney's powers by family of student killed in Germany", The Guardian, 10 November 2008.
Letter from Patricia Scotland to Erica Duggan, 17 January 2010, courtesy of justiceforjeremiah.com. Archived by WebCite (PDF).
- Erica Duggan and HM Coroner for Northern District of Greater London, EWHC 1263, High Court of Justice, Queen's Bench Division, 20 May 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 May 2016.
- ^ Taylor, Matthew. "'Suicide' student Jeremiah Duggan may have been pressured by cult, court hears", The Guardian, 21 May 2015.
- "Student's suicide on German autobahn a 'set-up', UK inquest hears", Press Association, 19 May 2015.
- Varney, Merry. "Coroner rejects suicide at inquest into British student found dead in Germany", press release, Leigh Day, 22 May 2015.
- "Student Jeremiah Duggan's death not suicide, coroner rules", BBC News, 21 May 2015.
- ^ (in German) Knispel, Manfred. "Erneute Ermittlung um Tod von britischem Juden in Wiesbaden – Justiz beschäftigt Fall auch noch nach zwölf Jahren", Wiesbadener Kurier, 20 May 2015 (archived).
- (in German) Andreas Wassermann, "Mysteriöser Tod eines Briten: Politsekte soll Studenten in den Tod gehetzt haben", Der Spiegel, 29 June 2015.
- (in German) Geyer, Steven. "Wie starb Jeremiah Duggan?", Frankfurter Rundschau, 1 July 2015.
- Huggler, Justin. "German police accused of 'cover-up' over mysterious 2003 death of British student", The Daily Telegraph, 30 June 2015.
- "Institutional racism in Germany is 'as bad as the Stephen Lawrence case'", Press Association, 28 May 2014.
- Doherty, Rosa. "Anger as Merkel fails to respond over Duggan", The Jewish Chronicle, 19 March 2015.
- Rashty, Sandy. "Board asks Foreign Secretary to raise Jeremiah Duggan case with German authorities", The Jewish Chronicle, 1 June 2015.
- LaRouche, Lyndon H. "Duggan Hoax Rewarmed Again", LaRouche Political Action Committee, 8 November 2006.
- ^ "The Facts in the Jeremiah Duggan Case", Schiller Institute, September 2007.
Further reading
- Justice for Jeremiah, Duggan family website.
- "Facts of the Duggan Case", Executive Intelligence Review, LaRouche movement.
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