THE HIGH Court has rejected an application by the US authorities to extradite veteran republican Seán Garland for his alleged role in an international counterfeiting conspiracy aimed at destabilising the US dollar.
The Americans contended that the plan by Mr Garland and co-conspirators to distribute counterfeit $100 notes internationally was done in conjunction with the regime in North Korea.
Mr Garland is a former chief-of-staff of the Official IRA and later president of the Workers’ Party.
A statement from the Workers’ Party said while yesterday’s High Court ruling was a relief to the 77-year-old, it believed if he ever visited another jurisdiction the Americans would try again in their extradition bid.
Rev Chris Hudson MBE, chairman of the “Stop the Extradition of Seán Garland Campaign”, expressed delight at the judgement. “This has been a horrendous six-year ordeal for Seán, his family and friends, and I am delighted with the progress we have made today.
“I have always believed that the US extradition demand was a vindictive act by the former Bush administration designed to punish and isolate North Korea and anyone who had connections with that country.”
The campaign “greatly appreciated” the support of many in the trade union movement including Jack O’Connor of Siptu, Jimmy Kelly, the regional secretary of Unite, and Eamon Devoy, TEEU general secretary.
Mr Hudson added: “We must now redouble our efforts to have this extradition warrant withdrawn completely by the United States to allow Seán Garland and his family the right to travel at will outside of Ireland without fear of arrest and detention.”
In a brief hearing yesterday morning, Mr Justice John Edwards said the High Court was not disposed to grant the extradition application and would furnish its reasons on January 13th next.
A High Court hearing in Dublin in July was told Mr Garland handed over almost a quarter of a million fake US dollars in Russian hotels in an international plot to spread the “super notes” across Europe.
Mr Garland, of Beldonstown, Brownstown, Navan, Co Meath, opposed his extradition to the US to face charges of distributing fake US dollars.
In an affidavit to the court in July, Brenda Johnson, assistant US attorney, said: “This case involved a long-standing and large-scale super notes distribution network based in the Republic of Ireland and headed by Seán Garland, a senior officer in the Irish Workers’ Party.”
Ms Johnson claimed one of Mr Garland’s alleged co-conspirators, Hugh Todd, later told investigators he purchased more than $250,000 of “super notes” from “the Garland organisation”.
According to indictment documents filed before a grand jury in the US and revealed in 2005, Mr Garland conspired with six others to smuggle and circulate dollars forged in North Korea.
The Americans contended the forgery and distribution of the $100 notes was part of a Marxist bid to destabilise the dollar. The allegations against Mr Garland related mostly to 1999 and 2000.