Supporters
of the Irish Republican Prisoners Support Group - Greater London picketed the
Irish embassy in London on Saturday in support of the campaign to stop the extradition
of Liam Campbell to Lithuania.
Liam Campbell, a dissident Irish
republican, was arrested in Dundalk on 2nd December 2016 on a
warrant issued by Lithuania and endorsed by the High Court in Dublin. He is
facing extradition to Lithuania pending an appeal against the 13th
July order in January 2021. If extradited and found guilty, he faces a sentence
of 20 years. This latest attempt to extradite Liam comes after a legal battle
lasting nearly 12 years in the High Court in Dublin.
In October 2013 his brother Michael
Campbell was acquitted of all charges in Lithuania because the court believed
he was framed by MI5. His lawyer, Ingrida Botyriene, said: “A person cannot be
sentenced for a crime committed by state officials. He was acquitted because
the court found that what he was accused of was a provocation. It was just an
activity of the state security services. Michael Campbell was set up in a
‘sting’ operation by MI5, the Irish and Lithuanian intelligence agencies and
jailed in Lithuania on 21 October 2011 for 12 years. The spooks had in fact
initiated the arms deal on which he was convicted. He would never be involved
in arms deals and would never go to Lithuania for such an affair if he had not been
provoked by secret agents”.
The same judgement should apply to Liam
now as the circumstances are exactly the same.
No comments:
Post a Comment