High Court dismisses Garland extradition bid

A veteran republican wanted over a multimillion-dollar counterfeiting operation involving high quality “super notes” will not be extradited to the United States.

The High Court in Dublin ruled that former Workers’ Party president Sean Garland faced charges that he was the ringleader of a massive racket that distributed top-grade forged 100-dollar bills across Europe.

US authorities claimed the 78-year-old was linked with the large-scale counterfeiting of almost perfect US dollars, which allegedly involved the North Korean government.

Mr Justice John Edwards said he will outline his reasons for dismissing the application on January 13.

A spokesman for Mr Garland, who was supported in court by his wife Mary, said: “He is extremely pleased and so is his wife.”

Mr Garland, of Beldonstown, Brownstown, Navan, Co Meath, was a former IRA leader in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was a key figure in securing the official IRA ceasefire of May 1972.

He was initially arrested by the Police Service of Northern Ireland, on the basis of an extradition warrant from the US authorities, in October 2005 at the Workers’ Party annual conference in Belfast. He fled to the Republic when released on bail.

He was later arrested outside the Workers’ Party offices in Dublin in January 2009 and released on strict bail conditions, which included surrendering the title deeds to his family home.

But barristers for Garland maintained the pensioner should not be extradited as the alleged offence happened in Ireland and was based on hearsay.

His legal team also argued Garland’s fundamental rights have been infringed, that there had been a delay in making the second extradition order and that the extradition was connected with a political offence.

Officials in the US had claimed 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.

In an affidavit to the High Court, Brenda Johnson, assistant US attorney, maintained the case involved a long-standing and large-scale super notes distribution network – called the Garland organisation – based in the Republic of Ireland and headed by Sean Garland, a senior officer in the Irish Workers’ Party.’

The US Secret Service (USSS) discovered the super notes were sourced in the Democratic Republic of North Korea and were transported around the world by North Korean officials travelling under diplomatic cover, she alleged.

The international probe, which also involved the UK’s National Crime Squad (NCS) – now the Serious and Organised Crime Agency (Soca) – and the interior ministry of Russia (MVD), found the highly deceptive counterfeit bills were in worldwide circulation from the late 1980s until at least July 2000.

Mr Garland – who has battled cancer and suffers from advanced diabetes – has continuously denied the allegations.

Campaigners said the former IRA leader has had to contend with a six-year legal battle while being subjected to draconian and unprecedented bail conditions.

They maintained that while the court’s decision removes some pressure, they believe US law enforcement agencies will attempt to pursue the extradition warrant if he leaves the jurisdiction of the Republic of Ireland.

The Rev Chris Hudson, chair of the Stop the Extradition of Sean Garland Campaign, said: “This has been a horrendous six-year ordeal for Sean, 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.”

Rev Hudson commended the thousands of people from all walks of life who supported their campaign, including more than 120 parliamentarians across the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland Assembly, as well as Westminster MPs, members of the House of Lords and members of the European Parliament.

“We must now redouble our efforts to have this extradition warrant withdrawn completely by the United States to allow Sean Garland and his family the right to travel at will outside of Ireland without fear of arrest and detention,” he added.