(CNN) -- Gerry Conlon, who was wrongly imprisoned for the IRA Guildford pub bombing in England in 1974, died Saturday in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He was 60. He was one of the Guildford Four, who were falsely convicted by the British courts and eventually freed in 1989. Conlon had been ill for some time. "We recognize that what he achieved by fighting for justice for us had a far, far greater importance -- it forced the world's closed eyes to be opened to injustice," his family said in a statement. The story of Conlon's struggle for freedom was told in the film "In the Name of the Father."
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Gerry Conlon, one of the Guildford Four, dies at age 60
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Conlon was wrongly convicted in the 1974 IRA bombing of Guildford pub
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He spent 15 years in prison and was released in 1989
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His story is told in the film "In the Name of the Father"
"His loss will be felt both within the community in @placeholder and across the world with all those who work in pursuit of justice."