Monday, May 21, 2007
Germany taking the lead in tidying up loose ends?
The 35 year old woman arrested in Coalisland on a European Arrest Warrant for terrorist offences allegedly committed in Germany is believed to be confirmed as Roisin McAliskey, daughter of Bernadette McAliskey, who the German authorities had previously tried to extradite in 1998. It follows last year’s successful prosecution of Leonard Hardy for an earlier attack on the British Army’s Osnabruck base. Adds The Deputy First Minister, Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness, is objecting.. and follows Alex Maskey’s lead by contacting the British government
Update“Sinn Fein have already spoken to the British Government on this matter this morning and we would expect the Irish Government to back calls for Roisin`s immediate release.”
Belfast Recorders Court was told that the German authorities issued a warrant for her arrest in October last year. Ms McAliskey will appear in court again next month to face an extradition hearing and was released on bail of £2,500.
Pete Baker @ 10:11 AM
Er why?
have SF got a cosy wee deal with Germany, er no.
It’s funny when the quirks of the process are exposed by the harsh glare of external scutiny.
“The arrest this morning of Roisin on the foot of an extradition request from German prosecutors will be seen by many as petty and vindictive.”
Could someone from SF present a timetable for when it’s good time to arrest a republican? third sunday of the month?
Posted by on May 21, 2007 @ 11:45 AMAny chance the German Gov’t got a little nudging from the Brits to do this?
Posted by on May 21, 2007 @ 11:55 AMHurrah! It’s almost enough to make me Pro-EU!!
Posted by on May 21, 2007 @ 12:04 PMIRiA
Oh aye, I can just se it now:
Ring, ring, ring, ring!
Angela: Guten tag?
Tony: Hello Angela, it’s Tony here
Angela: Ah Hello Herr Blar, how are you today?
Tony: Fine.....look I couldn’t as a wee favour could I?
Angela: I’m sorry Tony, I don’t have a big holiday home you can use this summer, why don’t you ask Cliff Richard or Silvio again?
Tony: No, it’s not that - look there’s a wee Provo in Coalisland I want you to have arrested.
Angela: Oh, OK, just give me a second while I get my pen.Grow up IRiA.
Posted by on May 21, 2007 @ 12:09 PMGinfizz
Obviously you’re right that Tony and Angela wouldn’t quite have worked it out like that, but extradition is a process that goes beyond the traditional limits of the judiciary, in that it necessarily involves politicians and not just judges. Extradition requests aren’t just fired off at random. So the chances are the government would have been informed, prior to the arrival of the request, and would have had to decide how to proceed. But I think IRiA’s feeling that ‘the Brits’ cooked this up in some sort of malign spirit is wide of the mark.
I wonder how much notice, if any, the executive would have had of this, from the PSNI?
Posted by on May 21, 2007 @ 12:21 PMI don’t know the full details about this, but hasn’t Roisin already served more than a year on this - without trial and pregnant - then released without charge by the Brits because of lack of evidence? A totally broken woman?
Posted by on May 21, 2007 @ 12:28 PMmerrie
Broken or not, the Germans clearly think there is a case to answer. The fact that she’s a Republican or that, to use McGuinness’s phrase we have made “progress” here does nothing to alter that fact.
Posted by on May 21, 2007 @ 12:37 PMIf the Germans have evidence that the Brits did not, why didn’t they share it with them at the time?
Posted by on May 21, 2007 @ 12:48 PMDaniel
By rights the executive should have no notice of this given that security is still a reserved matter?
Posted by on May 21, 2007 @ 12:51 PMHerr Blar
It is spelt Bliar isn’t it?
Posted by on May 21, 2007 @ 12:55 PMthis must be the first time in a number of years that the circumstances were right for this extradition. with reference to IRiA’s comments, he/she couldn’t be more wrong. i would say if anything the brits were trying to delay the request, not provoke it in the first place
Posted by on May 21, 2007 @ 01:04 PMHogan
Right, yes, that’s true.. So this means that, at their own discretion, the Home Office, upon receiving the request, *could* have contacted the NIO, who then *might* have contacted the OFMDFM? Meanwhile the red phone in Hugh’s office starts to glow and the Coalisland Batmobile is scrambled. Would the Exec really only find out about it over their elevenses, courtesy of Radio Ulster, like everyone else?
Posted by on May 21, 2007 @ 01:09 PMCould the timing be related to recent cases in Germany where members of the RAF(Bader Meinhof) were seeking parole or early release from jail. I believe in the most recent case this was refused. The German authorities may feel sensitive about refusing to release one of their own citizens whilst failing to pursue a non-national suspect
Posted by on May 21, 2007 @ 01:26 PMInteresting…
Monika Harms, the newish Federal Prosecutor, seems to be making a career out of trying to convict more people for old terrorist offences.
We have this case and the Siegfried Buback case, which has recently been opened in an attempt to convict another RAF member of Burback’s murder (even though three RAF members where convicted previously)…
Combined with those raids against anti-G8 groups it seems she’s trying quite hard to build an image of being tough on terrorism…
Posted by on May 21, 2007 @ 01:32 PMFritz,
Me thinks that the extradition hearing may be partially motivated by a desire for the German authorities to keep up an appearance of being tough on terror after the succesfull paroling of one of the RAF members involved in the Buback case (though recently another member was refused)…
It almost seems like someone was going through old terrorism cases looking for something that would back up Germany’s anti-terrorist credentials, then they stumbled across an extradition hearing for terrorism temporarily put off due to ill-health… they must have been jumping for joy
Posted by on May 21, 2007 @ 01:47 PM“A totally broken woman?”
More like a totally broken record from Sinn Fein, ok so they have been able to get away with whatever they want to do and flout whatever laws they want here but it really shouldn’t be such a shock that in other countries in the world when someone does something like plant a bomb, the authorities might be interested in pursuing them and bringing them to justice. Time for republicans to grow up.
Posted by on May 21, 2007 @ 03:03 PMWhy are people upset after the second attempt by Germany to extradite this mother of two in nine years, for charges which the British CPS decided that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute her in Britain seven years ago (at the request of the then German attorney general)? They should extradite her and that other one it took 40-plus PSNI officers to lift last week.
Posted by on May 21, 2007 @ 03:50 PMthe authorities might be interested in pursuing them and bringing them to justice.
Aye, look how well they pursued their own Nazi war criminals.
Posted by on May 21, 2007 @ 03:51 PM“Aye, look how well they pursued their own Nazi war criminals.”
erm, ever hear of the Nuremberg trials?
Posted by on May 21, 2007 @ 04:01 PMI must say it does look to be a little vindinctive, especially at this time.
Posted by on May 21, 2007 @ 04:36 PMerm, ever hear of the Nuremberg trials?
Read my email address. Thousands of them escaped your vaunted German justice. Hundreds of them lived out their lives freely in Britain.
Posted by on May 21, 2007 @ 04:40 PMIf she has nothing to fear from supposed lack of evidence let her stand trial.
[see commenting policy - edited moderator]
If Germany can get tough on terrorists, why must we acept them in our government.
Posted by on May 21, 2007 @ 06:23 PMThis is ridiculous!
Surely those Germans should know that IRA members are exempt from prosecution for stuff like bombing and murdering. It’s against our human rights in the Occupied North-East 6 Counties of Ireland to be tried for stuff like this.
I think we should open up an official enquiry into this outrage and everything should be translated into Irish.
Posted by on May 21, 2007 @ 07:20 PMHi,
quote I think we should open up an official enquiry into this outrage and everything should be translated into Irish.unquote
LOL
Posted by on May 21, 2007 @ 07:35 PM“I think we should open up an official enquiry into this outrage and everything should be translated into Irish. “
I object most strongly at this further example of Republican hegemony and discrimination. The enquiry must be jointly chaired by one Catholic and one Prod so we can be guaranteed a fair result and must be simultaneously translated into Ulster Scots as well as Irish so we can all understand what is going on.
Posted by on May 22, 2007 @ 05:51 AM
