Extradition order on McAliskey today will clear way for appeal

Lawyers representing Ms Roisin McAliskey will ask a London magistrate later today to formally commit her for extradition, thus…

Lawyers representing Ms Roisin McAliskey will ask a London magistrate later today to formally commit her for extradition, thus clearing the way for an appeal to the Home Secretary, Mr Jack Straw.

Her solicitor, Ms Gareth Peirce, will ask the magistrate at Bow Street Magistrates Court to go ahead with the extradition order. If the order does not take place today Ms Peirce will ask for a hearing tomorrow. A ruling in the High Court last week, which allowed a magistrate to order the extradition, could resolve the issue of an appeal against the order.

If the magistrate commits Ms McAliskey for extradition, her lawyers will then appeal to the Home Secretary to overturn the order in the interests of justice. Ms McAliskey, who is facing extradition to Germany in connection with an IRA mortar attack on a British army base, is being held on conditional bail at the Maudsley Psychiatric Hospital in London.