Judge rules out McAliskey extradition

Roisin McAliskey will not be extradited, the Belfast Crown court said today.

McAliskey had been fighting efforts to send her to a German court over an IRA attack on a British army base in Osnabruck.

She was arrested at her home in Coalisland, County Tyrone, last May and was on bail. It was the second attempt by the British and German governments to secure her extradition after an international human rightds campaign defeated the first;

Her lawyers have argued that to extradite her would be an abuse of process as a previous application seven years ago was set aside on medical grounds.

A spokeswoman for the Northern Ireland Court Service said: “The Recorder of Belfast, Judge (Tom) Burgess, today refused an application to extradite Roisin McAliskey to Germany to face a charge of attempted murder on the basis that it would be oppressive because of the passage (of) time.”

Speaking to journalists, Roisin`s mother, Bernadette McAliskey, said the family was happy with the outcome.

“We’re glad to be out of that nightmare and start again putting lives -and children`s lives- that have been on hold back together again,” she said.

“I should certainly record that the manner in which the judge respected the sensitive issues around the impact on Roisin’s health and the impact on the children was very much appreciated and not something we would have been used to in the past 40 years.”

Urgent Appeal