Omagh bomb man facing extradition to Lithuania
Mr Bunting said Mr Cassidy wanted the payments not for himself, but his family who cared for him.
“Paddy always said he would take a lump sum because of his age. He always said to me: ‘I look forward to trying to help my children and my grandchildren, I would give it round them.’ Because he never had any money in life as he was unable to work from he was shot at such a young age,” he added.
AFTER a legal battle lasting nearly 12 years the High Court will order the extradition of Liam Campbell, who was found civilly liable for the Omagh bombing, to Lithuania where he is wanted on international weapons trafficking charges.
Campbell (58) was arrested in Upper Faughart, Dundalk, Co Louth, on December 2, 2016, on foot of the second European Arrest Warrant issued by Lithuanian authorities to be endorsed by the High Court here. It was the third attempt by Lithuania to seek Campbell’s surrender.
The arrest warrant stated that he allegedly organised the preparation for the smuggling of weapons in support of the “terrorist grouping” the Real IRA between the end of 2006 and the beginning of 2007.
Campbell’s legal team had objected to his surrender based on the length of time he had been subject to the warrant and had argued that he could be subjected to “inhuman or degrading treatment” in prison there.
Mr Remy Farrell SC said that the Lithuanian authorities were “culpable, with a capital C” over the delay, which amounted to an “abuse of process”, and that they had been seeking his client’s extradition for over 10 years.
Mr Farrell added that the remand prison of Lukiskes in Vilnius had closed in July of last year, that his client’s bail was “hanging over him for four years”, and that the delay in proceedings was “shameful”.
In a judgment returned yesterday Ms Justice Aileen Donnelly said she was satisfied that an order for the surrender of Campbell may be made.
As the judgment was delivered electronically, Ms Justice Donnelly said she would formally make the order when Campbell next appears in person before the High Court on July 13.
In 2017 Campbell’s legal team had raised concerns about prison conditions in Lithuania, while he had also objected to his surrender on the grounds that it was “an abuse of process”. Campbell had spent four years in custody in Northern Ireland during a second attempt to extradite him and was released when he succeeded in his objection that to do so would be a breach of his rights.
“The position now is that Lukiskes prison has closed. I am satisfied that the point as regards prison conditions has no merit at this stage of the proceedings,” said Ms Justice Donnelly in her judgment.
“The respondent’s own expert had no issue with the conditions in Kaunas Remand Prison, which was the alternative prison.”
Campbell will have one week to apply for a certificate of appeal from the day of the order, July 13.