The Vilnius court decided Michael Campbell, 35, must remain behind bars until at least March 22, the tribunal’s spokeswoman Kristina Kisieliene told AFP. The court maintained maintained that there were sufficient grounds to keep him in custody as, without any permanent address or source of income, he was liable to leave the country.
Campbell was arrested in Vilnius on January 22, 2008, while negotiating with an undercover police officer who was posing as an arms dealer.
He risks charges of attempting to obtain weapons illegally, which carries a sentence of up to eight years, and supporting a terrorist organisation, where the penalty is up to 20 years.
Lithuanian prosecutors have rejected defence claims of heel-dragging, saying their investigation has been held up pending the extradition from Ireland of Campbell’s brother, Liam Campbell.
Liam Campbell, 46, was arrested in Ireland on Tuesday on a European Union arrest warrant filed by Lithuania but is planing to fight extradition, the Irish Times reported.
Liam Campbell has served time in Ireland on terrorism charges, including membership of the Real IRA.
The Real IRA broke from the mainstream movement in 1997 after the latter decided to halt its paramilitary campaign to free Northern Ireland from British rule and unite it with Ireland. The mainstream IRA formally renounced armed action in 2005.
The Real IRA, which is one of several splinter groups, claimed responsibility for the worst single atrocity in Northern Ireland in Omagh in 1998, when a bomb killed 29 people.
The family of Michael Campbell claim he is being held in “inhuman” conditions in Lithuania. According to the so-called Irish Freedom Committee, Campbell is being held in a cell with three other prisoners, none of whom speak any English and who spend their time smoking drugs. The only toilet is a hole in the ground and the prison food is inedible, they claim.
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