Conference tallis::celt

1228.0. "U.S. Judge gives Britain week to release documents" by KOALA::HOLOHAN () Tue Jun 22 1993 15:59

  JUDGE GIVES BRITAIN WEEK TO RELEASE DOCUMENTS 
 
    SAN FRANCISCO, June 11, Reuter - A federal judge in the extradition  
case of a suspected IRA member gave the British government one week on Friday
to hand over eight sensitive documents on British policy in Northern Ireland. 
   
U.S. District Judge Barbara Caulfield gave the prosecution until June  
18 to produce the classified documents which a defence attorney maintains  
are vital to the case of James Smyth, a suspected Irish Republican Army  
(IRA) member. 

Caulfield said the documents would remain sealed and would not be  
produced in court unless deemed relevant. 

The documents, most of which have not been made public in Britain,  
include one alleging collusion between security forces in Northern Ireland  
and Protestant paramilitary groups. 

"If (the documents) are not turned over, the court will take whatever  
appropriate action is deemed necessary," said Caulfield. 

A full hearing on Britain's request to extradite Smyth, one of 38  
prisoners who escaped from Northern Ireland's Maze prison in 1983, has been  
set for June 21. 

If the documents are not produced, the judge could dismiss the  
extradition request. "That's a strong possibility," defence lawyer Karen  
Snell said. 

U.S. Prosecutor Mark Zanides, acting for the British government, has  
opposed several previous requests from Snell for the documents to be handed  
over. 

Zanides argued Friday that handing over the documents would endanger  
British security in Northern Ireland. 

"It's not whether there is terrorism in Northern Ireland, it's a  
matter of obeying American law," Caulfield replied. 

The documents sought by the defence include the Stalker-Sampson  
inquiry into allegations that Northern Ireland police operated a  
shoot-to-kill policy and the Stevens report into allegations that Northern  
Ireland security forces leaked IRA files to Protestant paramilitary groups. 

Caulfield, however, rejected a defence request for a ninth document,  
on the Kincora affair, in which British intelligence officials allegedly  
covered up homosexual abuse in a Catholic boys' home. 

Snell says the documents will help support her case that Smyth should  
not be extradited because he would run the risk of death or harm in  
Northern Ireland. 

Smyth, 38, was arrested last June in San Francisco, where he had lived  
for eight years working as a house painter under a false name. He denies  
being an IRA member, which is fighting to end British rule of Northern  
Ireland, and contends he was wrongly convicted of attempted murder. 

He pleaded guilty in April to making false statements on his U.S.  
passport application, for which he could receive a maximum sentence of five  
years in a U.S. prison. 
  REUTER APC BW 
 
 

	SAN FRANCISCO (UPI) -- The British government refused Friday to
release confidential documents to an escaped Irish nationalist fighting
extradition to Northern Ireland, which may lead to dismissal of the
case.
	U.S. District Judge Barbara Caulfield last week ordered the release
within seven days of seven official reports believed relevant to James
Joseph Smyth's claim that he would be subject to political or religious
harassment if he were returned to Northern Ireland.
	Caulfield had threatened to take ``appropriate action'' if the
documents were not released and could dismiss the case as early as
Monday because Britain refused to hand over the material.
	Smyth's attorney, Karen Snell, said she would seek her client's
release on bail as soon as possible.
	The defendant was part of a prison break from the notorious Maze
Prison in Belfast in 1984 and was discovered living under an assumed
name in San Francisco last year.
	Smyth, a suspected Irish Republican Army member, had been serving a
20-year sentence for attempted murder when he escaped. He has attacked
his conviction as tainted and is seeking to remain in the United States
under an exception to the extradition treaty with Great Britain for
religious or political detainees.
	Snell said one of the reports requested by the defense was the result
of an investigation into alleged British government involvement with
suspected death squads operating in Northern Ireland.
	Meanwhile, another Maze escapee, Kevin Artt, was sentenced Friday to
10 months in prison for lying on a passport. Artt already has been in
jail for a year since being discovered living in Southern California and
would receive credit for time served.
	Federal prosecutors also threatened Friday to seek additional felony
charges against a third Maze escapee, Paul Brennan, who was found living
in Berkeley, Calif., earlier this year. Brennan was trying to plea
bargain on false passport charges.