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June 06, 2007

McAliskey Extradition Bid on Hold

News about Ireland & the Irish

BB 06/05/07 McAliskey Extradition Bid On Hold
IM 06/04/07 International Day Of Action For Roisin
BB 06/05/07 Support For Bloody Sunday View
BB 06/06/07 SF In First Public Board Meeting

(Poster's Note: I have been posting less news lately. There are
a couple of reasons: 1) Sharing of power in N. Ireland has
changed the type of news in Ireland. Much of it, in my opinion,
is of less interest. That is really good news, but good news
makes boring news. 2) My wife & I are both retiring. Now I have
more to do than I did when I was employed. Retirement is good
news! 3) Part of what I have had to do was to get ready for a
trip we are leaving on this Saturday. We are going to Ireland
for SIX weeks. Really good news!! However, for posting news it
does not bode well. I will have limited internet access and
won't be able to post much news. Jay PS – Sorry about being
late with the Int’l Day of Action for Roisin story, but the good
news is that extradition has been put on hold for now.)

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/northern_ireland/6726339.stm

McAliskey Extradition Bid On Hold

A move to extradite Roisin McAliskey to Germany has been put on
hold to allow her lawyers to prepare an abuse of process
application.

The daughter of former MP Bernadette McAliskey is wanted for
questioning about an IRA bomb at a British army barracks at
Osnabruck in 1996.

The 35-year-old is currently on bail after being arrested at her
home in Coalisland, County Tyrone, in April.

The German authorities are seeking her extradition for the second
time.

The first bid was abandoned in 2000 when the Crown Prosecution
Service in England ruled she had no case to answer.

Defence solicitor Peter Corrigan told Belfast Recorder's Court on
Tuesday that the case had been "politically motivated" at the
highest level of the Northern Ireland Office.

Mr Corrigan said he required time to get evidence to support an
application for abuse of process and would also be relying on the
undue delay by the authorities in Northern Ireland in acting on
the German warrant which was received last October.

The hearing was adjourned until 27 June.

Story from BBC NEWS:
Published: 2007/06/06 10:49:16 GMT
c BBC MMVII

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http://www.indymedia.ie/article/82874

International Day Of Action For Roisin

International Rights And Freedoms Event Notice
Monday June 04, 2007 22:43
By Kate - Coalition Of Irish Republican Women
irishrepublicanwomenscoalition@yahoo.com

Urgent last day to call, email, fax British Government to say no
to extradition for Roisin!

We are asking everyone to please send emails, faxes, phone calls
and hand written and delivered letters to British Consulates near
you to help stop the extradition of Roisin McAliskey. This is a
final action before her hearing is scheduled, Wednesday, June 6th.

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF ACTION
TUESDAY, JUNE 5TH, 2007
For Roisin McAliskey

The Coalition of Irish Republican Women and the Irish Freedom
Committee request you to join us on Tuesday, June 5th to call,
email, fax and/or hand deliver a letter to your nearest British
consulate or embassy. The Irish Freedom Committee has a page with
all the contact information here:

http://www.irishfreedomcommittee.net/ACTION_ALERTS/brit.htm

Some of the phone numbers may go to a "menu," so if you call and
do not get a live person press the following:

Atlanta: 5
Boston: 4
Chicago: 1
Houston: 5
L.A. : should pick up, if not, call 877-514-1233
San Francisco : 4
New York: should pick up, if not, call 212-745-9391

The British embassy in Washington may be phoned at (202) 588-
7800. For British consulates and embassies outside of the United
States, please see
http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket95231

Also, If you haven't already contacted, them, please communicate
the same request by email to the NIO and prime minister through
the contact forms on their respective webpages:

http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page821.asp

http://www.nio.gov.uk/index/contact-us/enquiry-form.htm

We thank everyone who has already sent e-mails, but we also ask
that you join us once again for a big push aimed at the
consulates/embassies. This Day of Action is of vital importance
to exert some last minute pressure on the British government
prior to Roisin's extradition hearing on Wednesday, June 6th.
Please help!!

Points to raise in your correspondence:

:: Roisin McAliskey has always maintained her innocence, and
substantial evidence supports her claim, including an alibi and a
principal prosecution witness's inability to identify her a few
months after the attack.

:: Britain has already determined that there is insufficient
evidence to try Roisin McAliskey for the Osnabruck attack.

:: Almost 11 years have elapsed since the Osnabruck attack, and
the passage of time makes it a great deal more difficult to
obtain a fair trial and defend against the charges, as witnesses
are more difficult to locate and may have died or become
incapacitated or too infirm to testify, witnesses' memories
naturally will have dimmed or been artificially shaped by
intervening publicity, and physical evidence may have
deteriorated or be unavailable for testing by the defense.

Sample text :

Honorable Consul General,

I am writing to oppose the extradition of Roisin McAliskey to
Germany and to ask that you inform your government of this
communication.

Ms. McAliskey has always denied involvement in the Osnabruck
attack and substantial evidence supports her innocence. She was
in Ireland at the time of the attack. Within a few months of the
attack, one of the chief prosecution witnesses, when interviewed
on German television, was unable to identify Ms. McAliskey as a
participant. Consistent with this state of evidence, the British
government previously determined there was insufficient evidence
to prosecute Ms. McAliskey in Britain. It rejected a request by
Germany to take over the prosecution.

In addition, the passage of nearly 11 years since the attack has
made it unlikely Ms. McAliskey can obtain a fair trial and defend
herself against the charges. Witnesses will have become difficult
to locate, and some may have died or become incapacitated. Even
available witnesses' memories will have dimmed substantially or
been artificially shaped by intervening publicity about the case.
Physical evidence may have deteriorated or be unavailable for
testing by the defense.

I ask that you relay my letter to your government.

Sincerely,

Thank you from

The Irish Freedom Committee and CIRW

*********************

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/northern_ireland/6722599.stm

Support For Bloody Sunday View

The brother of a man killed on Bloody Sunday says he agrees with
a former civil servant that the Saville Inquiry won't get to the
truth.

At a lecture, Maurice Hayes said the Saville Inquiry's 200m cost
could also have been put to better use.

Liam Wray, whose brother was shot dead by the army, says the
comments were valid but could have been made earlier.

"I would agree with what Maurice Hayes said, it's not going to
bring out the essential truth," he said.

However, Mr Wray said the former civil servant should have been
involved earlier.

"Making sure that those in power were responsible for creating a
mechanism that could probe into those areas of government, and
into military matters, that could bring out the essential truth,"
he continued.

In January 1972, paratroopers opened fire during a civil rights
march in Derry, killing 14.

The Saville Inquiry was established in 1998 by Prime Minister
Tony Blair after a campaign by families of those killed and
injured.

Its findings will not be published until at least the end of next
year.

Mr Hayes's comments were made at the Tip O'Neill Peace Lecture at
the University of Ulster's Magee campus in Londonderry.

He also warned a fixation with past atrocities could threaten the
work of the devolved policitical institutions.

"The general political will that the institutions should be made
to work (and) should be allowed to do so could easily be
frustrated if we insist on picking at the sores of old wounds,"
he said.

Mr Hayes is an independent member of the Irish Republic's Senate
and a former Northern Ireland Ombudsman.

His high-profile career has also included roles as a Permanent
Secretary in Northern Ireland's Department of Health and Social
Services and on the Patten Commission on policing.

Story from BBC NEWS:
Published: 2007/06/05 12:16:02 GMT
c BBC MMVII

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/northern_ireland/6725047.stm

SF In First Public Board Meeting

The newly reconstituted policing board has held its first public
meeting.

It was the first time that Sinn Fein has taken part in a public
session of the board.

Members of the board sat at the table and posed for cameras last
week - but there were no PSNI officers present and the talking
was behind closed doors.

On Wednesday, board members sat across the table from Chief
Constable Sir Hugh Orde and his senior officers in public session
for the first time.

Questions have been tabled on a wide range of issues.

They include Sir John Steven's investigation into allegations of
collusion between the security forces and loyalist
paramilitaries, and the murder of Robert McCartney, who was
stabbed to death by members of the IRA outside a Belfast bar more
than two years ago.

Sinn Fein voted in January to back police in Northern Ireland for
the first time.

Its three representatives on the board are Alex Maskey, Martina
Anderson and Daithi McKay.

The DUP is the largest political party on the board, with four
members. The Ulster Unionists have two, and the SDLP has one.

The board also has nine independents.

Story from BBC NEWS:
Published: 2007/06/06 11:28:19 GMT
c BBC MMVII

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