A leading Liberal Democrat MP is throwing his weight behind the campaign to prove that a Jewish student from London, who died after being struck by a car in Germany, was, in fact, murdered.
Prompted by the mysterious death of Jeremiah Duggan in 2003, Simon Hughes, Shadow Leader of the House of Commons, will travel to Berlin this Friday to attend a forum at the House of Democracy and Human Rights entitled 'Does the LaRouche Group Present a Danger to Society and a Danger to the Individual?'
According to the parent's of the late 22-year-old, the notorious right-wing organisation was responsible for their son's death, an accusation that has so far been brushed aside by German authorities.
While officials claim Jeremiah committed suicide, throwing himself into oncoming traffic on a busy autobahn, the Duggans attest they have forensic evidence to prove otherwise.
On the night of his death, Jeremiah's mother, Erica, says her son made a frantic phone call home saying he was frightened for his life. She said: "Jeremiah's hushed voice was of course incredibly familiar and yet unbelievably strange. I have never heard such terror. 'Mum, I'm in deep trouble.' He started spelling a word - it later transpired to be Wiesbaden, the place where I now suspect he was murdered - but before he reached "b" the line went dead. That was the last time I spoke to him."
It transpired that Jeremiah had accidentally stumbled into a meeting of the Schiller Institute, thinking he was attending an anti-war gathering. The body is a political think tank that has been described as a "sinister cult" and has ties with the LaRouche group, a movement that's accused of spreading anti-Jewish and anti-British messages for more than 30 years.
Armed with what she claims is irrefutable evidence acquired by hiring her own independent forensic pathologists, Erica has made submissions to the Attorney General for a further probe into her son's death. Her investigation revealed that he may have been battered with a blunt instrument and that there were no tyre marks or other signs on Jeremiah to indicate that a vehicle had come into contact with the body.
Now, Hughes will add another voice to the family's five year campaign. The MP told the Jewish News: "As a London MP I feel an obligation to support the family. I want to raise the profile of this situation. The fact is, the Schiller Institute acts with anti-semitic values and is very, very dubious. I am absolutely clear that there has not been a satisfactory explanation of what happened. We owe it to Jeremiah to make sure this is not swept under the carpet."
Welcoming the MP's support, Jeremiah's father Hugo Duggan said: "There has not been a full investigation in Germany or Britain into the circumstances of our son's death and we welcome the support of Simon Hughes who shares our concerns about such a destructive group operating with impunity in Europe."
