Artt back with fellow escapers
by Christy Mac an Bhaird
Irish political prisoner Kevin Barry Artt was
transferred back to the Federal Detention Center at
Pleasanton, California, last week, and is now housed in
the wing with fellow Long Kesh escaper Pól Brennan.
Terry Kirby, another Long Kesh escaper, is held at the
same facility, but in another wing.
Artt, who has spent more time in US jails without
charge than he spent in British jails in the Six
Counties, had requested the transfer some time ago.
All three men escaped from Long Kesh in 1983 along with
35 others. They are being held without charge pending
an appeal on an extradition request from Britain.
Ironically, the transfer came after Federal Judge,
Charles Legge, issued an order saying Artt was not a
security risk, a claim that had been made by the
California Bureau of Prisons to deny the Belfast man's
request to be moved back with his prison colleagues.
Legge was the judge who ordered Artt, Brennan and Kirby
back to jail in August, while they await an appeal on a
decision to extradite them.
In a letter to the BOP, Legge reportedly wrote that the
three were not a security risk, pointing out that they
had surrendered themselves to authorities when ordered
by the court and that they had made all appointments.
Artt told The Irish People last Friday thet he was
doing well and that he was relieved to be back with his
comrades. He was being held in the maximum security
North County Jail in Oakland, after local prosecutors
claimed placing the three men together amounted to a
``security risk.''
Mairéad Keane, the Sinn Fein Ard Chomhairle
representative to the party's delegation in
Washington, DC, visited both Brennan and Kirby just
after Christmas while in California on a private visit.
``I found both Pól and Terry to be well, it was a good
visit. I gave them an update on the current status of
the peace negotiations in Stormont and they expressed
their thanks for the campaign being waged by Irish
Americans to get them bail,'' she said, adding that
unfortunately she did not see Artt because he was in
the process of being transferred when she was in San
Francisco.
``Pól and Terry were very enthusiastic about the support
they are receiving. This is a humanitarian issue,'' she
said, ``I once again urge the government to grant all
three of them bail.''
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