Roisin McAliskey justice appeal

national | rights, freedoms and repression | press release Wednesday May 30, 2007 13:45 by Gan Ainm - Belfast ABC

The Coalition of Irish Republican Women requests your urgent action in regard to the latest attempt to extradite Róisín McAliskey to Germany. Her extradition hearing is June 6, 2007. We desperately need your immediate help to pressure the British government not to extradite her.

From: Coalition of Irish Republican Women
Date: May 25, 2007 9:37 AM

The Coalition of Irish Republican Women requests your urgent action in regard to the latest attempt to extradite Róisín McAliskey to Germany. Her extradition hearing is June 6, 2007. We desperately need your immediate help to pressure the British government not to extradite her.

Background:

Róisín McAliskey is a 35-year-old resident of Coalisland, Co. Tyrone. She is the daughter of civil rights activist and former Member of Parliament Bernadette Devlin McAliskey. Róisín is the mother of two young children, the first of whom was born while she was incarcerated without bail in England upon a prior German request for extradition in relation to a 1996 mortar attack by the Irish Republican Army on a British army base at Osnabruck, Germany.

Róisín McAliskey has always denied participating in the attack, and substantial evidence establishes that she was in Ireland, not in Germany, at the time of the attack. Less than one year after the attack, the chief witness for the proposed German prosecution could not identify Róisín McAliskey from a recent photograph.

In 1998, after international outcry, then British Home Secretary Jack Straw rejected the extradition request on the grounds that Róisín's extradition would be "unjust and oppressive." The Crown Prosecution Service subsequently found that there was insufficient evidence to warrant prosecution.

On Monday, May 21, 2007, the British government again arrested Róisín McAliskey on the basis of a new extradition demand by Germany pertaining to the Osnabruck attack. The extradition request was issued in October, but the British government did not act upon it for approximately seven months. The British government is proceeding with extradition proceedings despite the fact that it rejected Germany's request to take over the prosecution because it had already determined there was insufficient evidence to try Róisín McAliskey in Britain. Fortunately, Róisín McAliskey was granted bail this time.

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Request:

We are asking everyone to do three things:

1. REPOST!

2. Protest outside the nearest British embassy or consulate on Friday, June 1, 2007. For a list of British consulates and embassies, please see http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket...95231

We will supply you with text for a press release and letter to the ambassador or consul. Please let us know if you will join us in our coordinated demonstrations, so that we can include it in press releases.

3. Contact the following officials and organizations, along with anyone else they may think will be of assistance in attempting to persuade the British government not to extradite Róisín McAliskey to Germany.

British governmental addresses:
- http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page821.asp
- http://www.nio.gov.uk/index/contact-us/enquiry-form.htm
- public.enquiries@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk (salutation: Right Honorable John Reid)

Irish governmental addresses:
- taoiseach@taoiseach.gov.ie (salutation: Honorable Taoiseach)
- minister@dfa.ie (salutation: Honorable Minister Ahern)

Human rights organizations:
- http://iccl.ie/contact.html
- http://www.amnesty.ie/amnesty/live/irish/aboutai/contac...=2155 (please select "urgent actions")
- Nearest office of Human Rights Watch, which may be found at http://www.hrw.org/contact.html

Also, British Irish Rights Watch, for which we have only a postal address:
Jane Winter, Director
British Irish Rights Watch
13b Hillgate Place
London SW 12 9ES

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We suggest you raise the points listed below in your letter. If you prefer to take a shortcut, at the end of this message we have provided sample letters for each category of contacts.

Points to raise:

* Róisín 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 Róisín 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.

* The timing of Róisín McAliskey's arrest and delay in acting upon the extradition request strongly suggest her arrest is an attempt to scuttle the newly-restored devolved government by elements within the British government opposed to the peace process, such as MI5. ****This point should not be raised with any government agencies or Officials; however, it can be used for Human Rights Organizations.****

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Sample letter for British governmental offices:

I am writing to oppose the extradition of Róisín McAliskey to Germany.

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 use all of your power and influence to refuse Germany's extradition request.

Sincerely,

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Sample letter for Irish governmental offices:

I am writing to request that the Irish government use all of its power and influence with the British government to oppose the extradition of Róisín McAliskey to Germany.

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 use all of your power and influence to request that the British government refuse Germany's extradition request for Róisín McAliskey.

Sincerely,

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Sample letter for human rights organizations:

I am writing to request that your organization speak out against the proposed extradition of Róisín McAliskey to Germany by the British government.

This is the second attempt by Germany to extradite Ms. McAliskey for alleged participation in a June, 1996 attack on a British military base at Osnabruck, Germany. The British government imprisoned Ms. McAliskey pending extradition for approximately 17 months before finally releasing and refusing to extradite her in 1998.

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.

The timing of Róisín McAliskey's arrest and the British government's six-month delay in acting upon Germany's October 2006 extradition request strongly suggest the arrest may an attempt to scuttle the newly-restored devolved government in Belfast by some elements within the British government opposed to the Northern Ireland peace process .

I ask that you use the prestige and influence of your organization to pressure the British government to refuse Germany's extradition request for Róisín McAliskey and to help mobilize the public in opposition to her extradition.

Sincerely,

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**We thank you all for your support and any help on the behalf of Roisin McAliskey will be appreciated.*