Irish Republican POW Michael Campbell held in 'appalling conditions' in Lithuania |
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http://www.tribune.ie/article/2008/oct/26/republican-held-in-appalling-conditions-in-lithuan/ Sunday Tribune Republican held in 'appalling conditions' in Lithuania Suzanne Breen Northern Editor October 26, 2008 The family of a republican prisoner claim he is being held in inhuman conditions in a Lithuanian jail. Relatives of Michael Campbell from Dundalk say they have been unable to see him since he was arrested in Vilnius in January allegedly trying to buy arms and explosives for the Real IRA. Campbell (35) was arrested as part of a sting understood to involve MI5, the garda and Lithuanian police. Although he has not been charged with any offence, Lithuanian law allows a suspect to be held for 18 months. In nine months, Campbell has not been allowed visits or telephone calls from his family. His only contact with them has been through letters. Relatives and republican supporters are planning to picket the Lithuanian embassy in Dublin next week. His partner, Fiona Duffy, who was also arrested in Vilnius and was being held in a Lithuanian jail without charge, was released after the intervention of Amnesty International. She is now back in Dundalk. Marion Price of the Irish Republican Prisoners' Welfare Association said: "Michael Campbell is locked up nearly all day in a small cell with three Lithuanian prisoners. There is only one toilet between the four men and that is a hole in the ground. The conditions are appalling. Michael's family have been prevented from visiting him by the prosecution and when a family friend went to Vilnius for one of his court remands, he was removed from the court at the insistence of the prosecution. "The only people to have seen Michael since his arrest have been his lawyers. This is in total contrast to other prisoners in the jail whose families are allowed to see them. I can't recall any other foreign jail where such restrictions have been placed on an Irish prisoner. Michael hasn't been charged and this is effectively internment by remand." Campbell's brother Liam is a senior Real IRA commander who served two sentences in Portlaoise prison. It is understood that Michael Campbell, who had travelled to Vilnius to buy counterfeit cigarettes, was under surveillance as he left Ireland. It was part of a major police sting with an agent posing as a cigarette dealer. The Sunday Tribune has learned that, when in Lithuania, Campbell was then asked if he was interested in buying weapons. He agreed, was taken to a location where guns and explosives were on display, and was arrested. Duffy was arrested at a hotel. In 2004, Campbell was arrested for involvement in a cigarette smuggling ring in Holland. The cigarettes, destined for the black market in the Republic and the North, were labelled Super Kings but were imitations. Campbell was found guilty by a Dutch court of defrauding the exchequer of €327,000 in excise duty and was sentenced to four months in prison.
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