A man suspected of trying to buy arms in Lithuania for an Irish Republican Army (IRA) splinter group that has returned violently to the spotlight was scheduled to go on trial in the Baltic state yesterday.
Michael Campbell, a 36-year-old Irish citizen who is a brother of a senior Real IRA commander, has been behind bars for 19 months since being snared in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius.
Prosecutors in the ex-Soviet republic accuse him of attempting to obtain weapons illegally and aiding a terrorist organization. The crimes carry sentences of up to eight years, and 20 years, respectively.
His lawyers claim the case is groundless.
“The defense regards as insufficient the evidence produced by the prosecution,” said Ingrida Botyriene, one of Campbell’s Lithuanian lawyers.
She refused to elaborate.
Campbell was arrested in Vilnius in January last year while meeting with an undercover Lithuanian agent who reportedly offered him weapons. His wife, Fiona Duffy, was also detained but released four months later.
His supporters claim Campbell — who reportedly has a criminal record for tobacco-smuggling — was in Vilnius to buy cigarettes and was set up by British intelligence working with the Lithuanians.
One group, the Irish Republican Prisoners Welfare Association, dubs him a “hostage” and a “prisoner of war.”
His supporters also complain he is barred from contacting his family, is being held with three inmates who do not speak English and regularly take drugs, and that the cell lights are switched off as part of Lithuania’s anti-recession drive.
The Real IRA is a splinter group of the Provisional IRA.
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