A joint application to the High Court to force a London magistrate to order Ms Roisin McAliskey's extradition to Germany is the only option available to move the case forward, her supporters have said. During a brief hearing yesterday at Bow Street Magistrates Court in London, the magistrate, Mr Nicholas Evans, said it seemed pointless to keep bringing the case back to court only to adjourn the proceedings, but to give both sides time to apply for directions from the High Court, he adjourned the hearing until January 2nd. Ms Alison Reilly, for the German government, told the court a medical report indicated Ms Mc Aliskey was too unwell to attend and an adjournment would allow a joint application to the High Court with Ms McAliskey's solicitor, Ms Gareth Peirce, to be made.
The German government is see king Ms McAliskey's extradition in connection with the IRA mortar attack on the British army barracks in Osnabruck in June 1996.
Ms McAliskey, who is being held on conditional bail at the Maudsley Psychiatric Hospital in London, gave birth to her daughter Loinnir six months ago and has been suffering from mental distress since her arrest in Northern Ireland a year ago. A supporter described her condition yesterday as "still worrying" and although she has "good and bad days", he said, "she needs to be at home."
Meanwhile, a report into the case by a former US attorney general, Mr Ramsey Clarke, and Ms Heidi Bache-Wiig, a Norwegian human rights lawyer, is to be sent to the Northern talks chairman, Mr George Mitchell. Outside the court Ms Peirce said an application to the High Court or divisional court could take some time but that efforts were being made to move the process forward.