RIRA MAN REFUSED BID TO FIGHT EXTRADITION
RIRA man refused bid to fight extradition
ONE of the men held liable for the Omagh bombing has been refused permission to go before the UK's highest court as part of his fight against being extradited to Lithuania.
Liam Campbell (46) was seeking to challenge a ruling that proceedings against him over an alleged arms-smuggling plot should be held in Belfast rather than Dublin.
His lawyers had combined an application for a writ of habeas corpus with an application for a judicial review of the decision on where the extradition hearing should take place.
Both strands were rejected in July by judges at the High Court in Belfast who pointed out that Lithuanian authorities had since withdrawn their request in Dublin.
Following their decision Campbell's senior counsel, Edward Fitzgerald QC, yesterday applied for leave to take the case to the newly established Supreme Court, which has replaced the House of Lords as the highest judicial tier in Britain and Northern Ireland.
However, Lord Justice Higgins ruled: "We are not satisfied any of the points raised are points of law of public importance that require to be considered by the Supreme Court. We refuse the application for leave."
With the extradition hearing due to be heard at Belfast Recorder's Court later this month, the judge also warned against any further "satellite litigation".
"It offends against both the spirit and letter of the Extradition Act that proceedings are held up by this type of litigation," he said.
"We would encourage the parties to proceed with the extradition proceedings before the recorder."
Campbell, from Upper Faughart, Dundalk, Co Louth, is wanted in Lithuania over a suspected operation to acquire and ship guns, ammunition and explosives from the eastern European state to Ireland.
In June he was held to be responsible, along with three other men, for the Omagh atrocity following a landmark civil action brought by relatives of some of those killed in the August 1998 blast.
A judge declared there was cogent evidence that he was a member of the Real IRA's 'army council'.
He was detained on a European arrest warrant in south Armagh in May after crossing the border to take his wife to work.
ONE of the men held liable for the Omagh bombing has been refused permission to go before the UK's highest court as part of his fight against being extradited to Lithuania.
Liam Campbell (46) was seeking to challenge a ruling that proceedings against him over an alleged arms-smuggling plot should be held in Belfast rather than Dublin.
His lawyers had combined an application for a writ of habeas corpus with an application for a judicial review of the decision on where the extradition hearing should take place.
Both strands were rejected in July by judges at the High Court in Belfast who pointed out that Lithuanian authorities had since withdrawn their request in Dublin.
Following their decision Campbell's senior counsel, Edward Fitzgerald QC, yesterday applied for leave to take the case to the newly established Supreme Court, which has replaced the House of Lords as the highest judicial tier in Britain and Northern Ireland.
However, Lord Justice Higgins ruled: "We are not satisfied any of the points raised are points of law of public importance that require to be considered by the Supreme Court. We refuse the application for leave."
With the extradition hearing due to be heard at Belfast Recorder's Court later this month, the judge also warned against any further "satellite litigation".
"It offends against both the spirit and letter of the Extradition Act that proceedings are held up by this type of litigation," he said.
"We would encourage the parties to proceed with the extradition proceedings before the recorder."
Campbell, from Upper Faughart, Dundalk, Co Louth, is wanted in Lithuania over a suspected operation to acquire and ship guns, ammunition and explosives from the eastern European state to Ireland.
In June he was held to be responsible, along with three other men, for the Omagh atrocity following a landmark civil action brought by relatives of some of those killed in the August 1998 blast.
A judge declared there was cogent evidence that he was a member of the Real IRA's 'army council'.
He was detained on a European arrest warrant in south Armagh in May after crossing the border to take his wife to work.
Further Information
Publisher: THE IRISH NEWS
Ref: IN/1019
Published Date: 14-Nov-09
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