Verdict due in Lithuanian trial of ‘Real IRA member’

Prosecutors claim Michael Campbell, caught in sting operation, was planning to buy firearms and explosives A judge in Lithuania will deliver a verdict on Friday in the case of an alleged member of the Real IRA who has been accused of trying to buy firearms, ammunition and explosives from Lithuania. Prosecutors said 39-year-old Michael Campbell was caught in a sting operation involving MI5, the Garda and the Lithuanian authorities. He has been charged with trying to buy weapons including a high-velocity sniper rifle, rocket-propelled grenades, detonators, timers and explosives. The judge, Arunas Kisielius, was told that Campbell was arrested when Lithuanian officers posing as arms suppliers met him in Vilnius in January 2008. The court heard that the operation had been set up with the help of an MI5 agent known as Robert Michael Jardine, who took Campbell to Lithuania as part of the undercover plot. “If these criminal acts had not been discovered in a timely way, weapons would have been acquired from other sources and used for terrorist purposes,” Gedgaudas Norkunas, prosecuting, said. Kisielius heard that Campbell paid €10,000 (£8,700) for the haul of weapons, which included 10kg of high explosive. Campbell has denied all the charges, including that he was attempting to provide support to a terrorist group. He admitted to the court that he was interested in buying arms, but denied they were for the Real IRA. His lawyers said British and Lithuanian intelligence agencies were guilty of entrapment. They claimed Jardine initiated the arms deal, and that Campbell was not involved in terrorism. Giving evidence, Campbell, of Co Louth, told the court: “During my entire stay in Lithuania, when I was recorded 24 hours a day, the prosecutor did not even get one recording where I was talking with anybody about terrorist acts.” He said he had been joking when a recorded conversation seemed to show he was planning to use the weapons in London. “To make a big story about a joke is really unfair,” he told the court. “I am not a member of the Real IRA.” Real IRA Lithuania Europe Northern Ireland Nick Hopkins guardian.co.uk

Posted by on October 21, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.