Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams is released from custody in Northern Ireland, after four days of questioning by police about the 1972 murder of mother-of-10 Jean McConville.
The move means the ultimate decision whether to charge the 65-year-old politician with any offence will be made by Northern Ireland’s Public Prosecution Service (PPS) at a later date after reviewing evidence presented by police.
Mr Adams has always vehemently denied allegations levelled by former republican colleagues that he ordered the murder of the 37-year-old widow in 1972.
A PSNI spokesman said: “A 65-year-old man arrested by detectives from PSNI’s Serious Crime Branch investigating the abduction and murder of Jean McConville in 1972 on Wednesday 30th April has been released pending a report to the PPS.”
While a decision on whether to proceed with a prosecution of Mr Adams would ordinarily rest with the region’s Director of Public Prosecutions Barra McGrory QC, it is likely that he will delegate the case to another senior PPS official, as he has previously acted as Mr Adams’s lawyer prior to becoming DPP.
It could take some time for the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) to prepare the file for the PPS, with prosecutors then taking a further period to assess whatever evidence is presented.
The announcement of Mr Adams’ release came almost 96 hours after the republican veteran was arrested on Wednesday night after voluntarily presenting himself at Antrim police station for questioning.
His detention has triggered a major row at the heart of Northern Ireland’s power-sharing institutions, with Sinn Fein accusing an anti-peace process “rump” within the PSNI of orchestrating the arrest, branding it an example of “political policing” specifically timed to damage the party’s chances in the forthcoming European and local government elections.
Those claims have been emphatically rejected by Prime Minister David Cameron, Stormont First Minister Peter Robinson and Justice Minister David Ford.
Mrs McConville was dragged, screaming, away from her children in the Divis flats in west Belfast by a gang of up to 12 men and women after being wrongly accused of informing to the security forces.
She was interrogated, shot in the back of the head and then secretly buried – becoming one of the “Disappeared” victims of the Troubles.
Her body was not found until 2003 on a beach in Co Louth, 50 miles from her home.Mr Adams, a former MP for West Belfast and now an elected representative for Co Louth in the Irish Dail, presented himself for interview by prior arrangement with detectives.
Sinn Fein has claimed he was not expecting to be formally arrested at that point.He was questioned for two days before the police successfully applied to a judge in Belfast on Friday for a 48-hour extension to his detention period.
It is understood he has been quizzed for up to 17 hours a day.As the second 48-hour deadline approached, the PSNI announced that he was to be freed pending a report being prepared for the PPS.
Earlier, Democratic Unionist leader Mr Robinson accused Sinn Fein of attempting to blackmail the police over the arrest of Mr Adams.