Members of Omagh's District Policing Partnership last night agreed that a Sinn Féin picket of the body had impinged on their human rights.
The members were speaking after former internee Paddy Joe McClean, right, initiated proceedings against Sinn Féin members who staged a protest at a meeting of Omagh's policing partnership.
The meeting in May was called off after noisy protesters drowned out speakers.
Mr McClean told the Irish News that he never envisaged that those who were denied basic rights themselves would now be denying those rights to others.
Last night SDLP councillor and Omagh policing partnership chairman Gerry O'Doherty said he believed that the board members' rights had been denied.
"It was a fact that the members of the board and the groups who attended the meeting were denied their right to assembly, free speech and freedom of expression," he said.
"The protest was the purest example of fascism that I have ever experienced."
Policing partnership vice-chairman and UUP councillor Allan Rainey said that while people had the right to protest, the board members had a right to freedom of speech.
"Whilst Sinn Féin have the right to protest for their own reasons, I feel they went too far," he said.
"There were groups at that meeting who came with sincere desire in their hearts to ask police questions about matters that effect them. They were denied that opportunity.
"It is an about turn on all that Sinn Féin profess to stand for."
DUP councillor and policing partnership member Thomas Buchanan said the picket caused great distress to non-elected members of the board who had never been faced with such a protest.
"I have no objection to people protesting, provided it is done peacefully, but there was a denial of democracy in Omagh that evening," he said.
"Sinn Féin calls for democratic and social rights yet they went to that meeting with the intention of denying people their right to free speech.
"If Paddy Joe McClean takes a case against Sinn Féin, I would say well done."
Sinn Féin councillor Sean Begley said people had a basic right to protest.
"Given the situation with regard to the current state of policing, people were angry and felt the need to protest at that event.
"People have a right to protest and we exercised that right," he said.
