International Day of Action for Roisin

international | rights, freedoms and repression | event notice Monday June 04, 2007 22:43 by Kate - Coalition of Irish Republican Women irishrepublicanwomenscoalition at yahoo dot com

Urgent last day to call, email, fax British Government to say no to extradition for Roisin!

We are asking everyone to please send emails, faxes, phone calls and hand written and delivered letters to British Consulates near you to help stop the extradition of Roisin McAliskey. This is a final action before her hearing is sceduled, Wednesday, June 6th.

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF ACTION
TUESDAY, JUNE 5TH, 2007

for
Róisín McAliskey

The Coalition of Irish Republican Women and the Irish Freedom Committee request you to join us on Tuesday, June 5th to call, email, fax and/or hand deliver a letter to your nearest British consulate or embassy. The Irish Freedom Committee has a page with all the contact information here:
http://www.irishfreedomcommittee.net/ACTION_ALERTS/brit..._.htm

Some of the phone numbers may go to a “menu,” so if you call and do not get a live person press the following:

Atlanta: 5
Boston: 4
Chicago: 1
Houston: 5
L.A. : should pick up, if not, call 877-514-1233
San Francisco : 4
New York: should pick up, if not, call 212-745-9391

The British embassy in Washington may be phoned at (202) 588-7800. For British consulates and embassies outside of the United States, please see http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket...95231

Also, If you haven't already contacted, them, please communicate the same request by email to the NIO and prime minister through the contact forms on their respective webpages:

http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page821.asp
http://www.nio.gov.uk/index/contact-us/enquiry-form.htm

We thank everyone who has already sent e-mails, but we also ask that you join us once again for a big push aimed at the consulates/embassies. This Day of Action is of vital importance to exert some last minute pressure on the British government prior to Róisín’s extradition hearing on Wednesday, June 6th. Please help!!

Points to raise in your correspondence:

• Róisín McAliskey has always maintained her innocence, and substantial evidence supports her claim, including an alibi and a principal prosecution witness’s inability to identify her a few months after the attack.

• Britain has already determined that there is insufficient evidence to try Róisín McAliskey for the Osnabruck attack.

• Almost 11 years have elapsed since the Osnabruck attack, and the passage of time makes it a great deal more difficult to obtain a fair trial and defend against the charges, as witnesses are more difficult to locate and may have died or become incapacitated or too infirm to testify, witnesses’ memories naturally will have dimmed or been artificially shaped by intervening publicity, and physical evidence may have deteriorated or be unavailable for testing by the defense.

Sample text :

Honorable Consul General,

I am writing to oppose the extradition of Róisín McAliskey to Germany and to ask that you inform your government of this communication.

Ms. McAliskey has always denied involvement in the Osnabruck attack and substantial evidence supports her innocence. She was in Ireland at the time of the attack. Within a few months of the attack, one of the chief prosecution witnesses, when interviewed on German television, was unable to identify Ms. McAliskey as a participant. Consistent with this state of evidence, the British government previously determined there was insufficient evidence to prosecute Ms. McAliskey in Britain. It rejected a request by Germany to take over the prosecution.

In addition, the passage of nearly 11 years since the attack has made it unlikely Ms. McAliskey can obtain a fair trial and defend herself against the charges. Witnesses will have become difficult to locate, and some may have died or become incapacitated. Even available witnesses’ memories will have dimmed substantially or been artificially shaped by intervening publicity about the case. Physical evidence may have deteriorated or be unavailable for testing by the defense.

I ask that you relay my letter to your government.

Sincerely,

Thank you from
The Irish Freedom Committee and CIRW