ALLEGED RIRA CHIEF WAS QUESTIONED ON OMAGH FOR 4 DAYS
Alleged RIRA chief was questioned on Omagh for 4 days
A LEADING dissident republican arrested in south Armagh last week was questioned for four days about the Omagh bombing, a court heard yesterday.
Alleged Real IRA leader Liam Campbell (46) was then released and rear-rested under a European Arrest Warrant in connection with a suspected plot to smuggle arms and explosives from Eastern Europe into Ireland.
Details of the original reasons for Campbell's detention last Friday were heard as his lawyers urged a judge not to oversee fresh extradition proceedings against him in Northern Ireland.
Belfast Recorder's Court was told it would be an "absurd" move when a warrant was executed in Dublin in January for the same offences.
Campbell, of Upper Faughart, Dundalk, Co Louth, is wanted over an alleged operation to acquire and ship guns, ammunition, explosives, projectors, detonators and timers from Lithuania.
He was described in court as a leading member of the Real IRA.
Campbell is also one of five men being sued by relatives of some of those killed in the August 1998 Omagh bombing in which 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins, were killed.
He was arrested by police, who are reported to have rammed his car, after crossing the border into the village of Bessbrook to take his wife to work.
At first he was held under the Terrorism Act and taken for questioning at Antrim police station about unspecified offences before being released without charge.
However, Stephen Ritchie, for the Lithuanian authorities seeking his extradition, said in court yesterday: "He was arrested on suspicion of causing an explosion some 11 years ago and then questioned about that for four days."
Judge Tom Burgess, the Recorder for Belfast, had originally adjourned the extradition hearing so that he could contact Lithuania about whether proceedings could continue in Northern Ireland.
He told the court a response from the requesting state's Prosecutor General Office's had indicated "no reasons and merits in returning Liam Campbell to the Republic of Ireland from the United Kingdom".
Based on that opinion the judge outlined his view that he should comply with his duties under the Extradition Act.
However, Campbell's lawyer Peter Corrigan argued that there was no logic in this course as proceedings have been running for six months in Dublin since a warrant was executed there.
"It's absurd in the whole ethos of the Extradition Act. This flies in the face of it to commence proceedings here when it has already started and he has not breached [bail] conditions," he said.
Mr Ritchie responded by saying that Campbell had brought about what was described as an unprecedented situation by leaving the Republic.
He told Judge Burgess: "We say the powers you have are set out quite clearly in the Extradition Act."
The case was adjourned until Monday. Campbell was remanded in continued custody.
A LEADING dissident republican arrested in south Armagh last week was questioned for four days about the Omagh bombing, a court heard yesterday.
Alleged Real IRA leader Liam Campbell (46) was then released and rear-rested under a European Arrest Warrant in connection with a suspected plot to smuggle arms and explosives from Eastern Europe into Ireland.
Details of the original reasons for Campbell's detention last Friday were heard as his lawyers urged a judge not to oversee fresh extradition proceedings against him in Northern Ireland.
Belfast Recorder's Court was told it would be an "absurd" move when a warrant was executed in Dublin in January for the same offences.
Campbell, of Upper Faughart, Dundalk, Co Louth, is wanted over an alleged operation to acquire and ship guns, ammunition, explosives, projectors, detonators and timers from Lithuania.
He was described in court as a leading member of the Real IRA.
Campbell is also one of five men being sued by relatives of some of those killed in the August 1998 Omagh bombing in which 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins, were killed.
He was arrested by police, who are reported to have rammed his car, after crossing the border into the village of Bessbrook to take his wife to work.
At first he was held under the Terrorism Act and taken for questioning at Antrim police station about unspecified offences before being released without charge.
However, Stephen Ritchie, for the Lithuanian authorities seeking his extradition, said in court yesterday: "He was arrested on suspicion of causing an explosion some 11 years ago and then questioned about that for four days."
Judge Tom Burgess, the Recorder for Belfast, had originally adjourned the extradition hearing so that he could contact Lithuania about whether proceedings could continue in Northern Ireland.
He told the court a response from the requesting state's Prosecutor General Office's had indicated "no reasons and merits in returning Liam Campbell to the Republic of Ireland from the United Kingdom".
Based on that opinion the judge outlined his view that he should comply with his duties under the Extradition Act.
However, Campbell's lawyer Peter Corrigan argued that there was no logic in this course as proceedings have been running for six months in Dublin since a warrant was executed there.
"It's absurd in the whole ethos of the Extradition Act. This flies in the face of it to commence proceedings here when it has already started and he has not breached [bail] conditions," he said.
Mr Ritchie responded by saying that Campbell had brought about what was described as an unprecedented situation by leaving the Republic.
He told Judge Burgess: "We say the powers you have are set out quite clearly in the Extradition Act."
The case was adjourned until Monday. Campbell was remanded in continued custody.
Further Information
Publisher: THE IRISH NEWS
Ref: IN/1000
Published Date: 30-May-09
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