DUBLIN, Nov 21 (Reuters) - One of the two Northern Irish men
charged with manslaughter over the deaths of 39 Vietnamese
people found in the back of a truck near London last month
challenged attempts to extradite him to Britain in an Irish
court on Thursday.
Britain began extradition proceedings on Nov. 1, a week
after the discovery of the bodies in an industrial estate.
Eamonn Harrison, 22, was charged with human trafficking and
immigration offences, as well as 39 offences of manslaughter.
The UK authorities, citing signed documentation and CCTV
footage, allege that Harrison delivered the trailer in which the
people were found to a Belgian port before its onward journey to
Britain, Ronan Kennedy, a lawyer for the Irish state said.
Harrison's lawyer, Siobhan Stack, raised a number of issues
with the extradition warrant, in particular the "sparseness of
the facts" contained within it that she said gave no information
as to where the deaths occurred and what Harrison's involvement
was.
Judge Donald Binchy said the matters raised definitely
required additional information from British prosecutors before
a hearing date that he set for Dec. 12.
The man who drove the lorry to the industrial estate, also
from Northern Ireland, was charged last month with 39 counts of
manslaughter, conspiracy to traffic people, and money
laundering. He is due to enter a plea next week.
Two other Northern Irish men are also wanted on suspicion of
manslaughter and human trafficking, while eight people were also
arrested earlier this month by Vietnamese police, bringing the
total number of arrests there to 10.
The bodies were found in the early hours of Oct. 23 after
the container arrived from Zeebrugge in Belgium. The container
was picked up at Purfleet dock, east of London and a British
court heard this month that a global ring was involved.
Judge Binchy said one of the questions prosecutors needed to
answer was the degree to which Harrison was involved in the
conspiracy. They also have to make clear whether they plan to
prosecute on the grounds of an extraterritorial offence.
Harrison's lawyer also said the warrant stated that he was a
British citizen but that her client was travelling under an
Irish passport as an Irish citizen, and that this will be
critical in terms of the territorial jurisdiction of the case.
People born in British-run Northern Ireland are entitled to
both British and Irish passports.
On setting the hearing date, Binchy also said that the issue
of Brexit loomed large with all extradition proceedings to the
United Kingdom and that he was doing his utmost to clear all
requests by the end of the year.
(Reporting by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Giles Elgood)