Irishman’s arrest in Lithuania ‘an MI5 plot’

THE Lithuanian lawyer for an Irishman accused of trying to purchase weapons for the Real IRA has told a court Michael Campbell was a victim of a sting by Britain’s intelligence service.

Campbell, 39, was arrested in January 2008 after allegedly handing €10,000 to a Lithuanian agent posing as a weapons supplier.

Campbell’s lawyer, Inga Botyriene, told a court in Vilnius that Campbell was provoked into buying weapons and explosives by undercover agents of MI5.

“He was never involved in arms deals and would never go to Lithuania for such an affair if he had not been provoked by secret agents,” said Ms Botyriene.

Ms Botyriene also said Campbell has never been a member of the Real IRA.

Prosecutors have asked for a 16-year jail sentence for Campbell, who has spent three-and-a-half years in Lukiskes prison in Vilnius.

“Conditions [in jail] are really bad, but I got used to this,” said Campbell, 39.

He is the brother of Liam Campbell, 47, who was one of the four found liable by a civil court for the 1998 Omagh bombing that killed 29 people.