The Veronica Guerin murder suspect, Mr Brian Meehan, is to be returned to Ireland shortly after a last effort to halt his extradition from the Netherlands failed yesterday.
It marked the end of a 10 month court battle by Mr Meehan (33) to prevent his extradition, sought by the Irish authorities. It had already been granted last December by a court in Amsterdam, upheld by the Dutch Supreme Court last June and confirmed by former Justice Minister, Mrs Winnie Sorgdrager. Mr Meehan's Dutch lawyer yesterday unsuccessfully tried to seek an injunction to halt his return to Ireland.
Dutch extradition procedures allow fugitives sought abroad to object to ministerial decisions in summary proceedings before the president of the District Court in The Hague.
Mr Meehan, wanted by gardai investigating the murder of Veronica Guerin in June 1996, faces 18 counts of conspiracy to murder, and importation and possession of large amounts of drugs and of weapons.
After hearing claims from Mr Meehan's lawyer, Mr Victor Koppe, that his client would not receive a fair trial in Ireland due to the high level of press coverage following the Guerin murder, the vice-president of the District Court of The Hague, Mr Johannes Westenberg, said: "I am completely satisfied that Mr Meehan will receive fair and impartial treatment by judges of Ireland's Special Criminal Court.
"They would in no way be at all influenced by any suggestive press reports concerning Mr Meehan," he added.
Judge Westenberg rejected the request to have an injunction brought against the former Dutch Minister for Justice to have the extradition halted while further investigations were conducted.
It was claimed by the Meehan legal team that the Dutch Justice Minister made an unbalanced decision in confirming his extradition by accepting evidence from the Irish authorities which it was claimed consisted mainly of press reports and allegations in the media concerning him.
Describing the Guerin murder as appalling and the charges against Mr Meehan as extremely grave, Dutch State Attorney, Ms Cecile Bitter, said the flood of publicity following the Irish journalist's brutal killing was completely understandable.
"Two of our courts, Amsterdam Extradition Court and the Supreme Court, have already ruled that Brian Meehan's extradition must go ahead. It satisfies Treaty conditions between both countries and nothing can stand in its way," she told the court.
In an unexpectedly speedy ruling - verdicts in similar appeal cases have generally taken up to a fortnight - Judge Westenberg said the facts were that Mr Meehan was wanted by the Irish authorities on the foot of the most serious of criminal charges. No new evidence had been submitted suggesting any mistake had been made or there were sound legal reasons for turning down the extradition request at this late stage. Mr Meehan's innocence or guilt was not at issue: that was for the Irish courts to decide, and he did not believe any judges in Ireland would be swayed by some of the "suggestive" press reports concerning him.
Neither Mr Meehan, of Stanaway Road, Crumlin, nor members of his family were present during the public hearing in a tiny court chamber in an office skyscraper in The Hague yesterday.
Delivering his judgment, the vice-president of the District Court of The Hague said: "I spent a long evening before this hearing reading the whole file: there were more than 300 pages of press reports and I read many of them. I want to give a quick judgment because I have studied the case closely and there seems little point in keeping Mr Meehan in jail here for a further two weeks."
Senior garda officers involved in the Veronica Guerin murder hunt are expected to travel to Holland within the coming days as arrangements for the hand-over are put in place. According to a Dutch Justice Ministry source, the cost of keeping Mr Meehan in jail for nearly 11 months and his legal expenses (he received free legal aid) has already well exceeded £150,000.