Roisin McAliskey gives birth

Roisin McAliskey gives birth

@box text intro = As Roisin McAliskey gave birth to a healthy 2.6 kg baby girl on May 26, international pressure redoubled on the British and German governments to quickly release mother and child.

Roisin has been held by the British government for six months in harrowing conditions with the connivance of German prosecutors who, despite any credible evidence against her, have claimed that she took part in an IRA attack on a British Army base at Osnabruck last year.

No formal charges have ever been presented against the wheelchair-bound 25-year-old, who has been supported by a number of international human rights organisations including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

After the intense strain on the McAliskey family, who have spent six months battling with the British and German governments, there was an obvious sense of relief that in the end the delivery had been humane and without complications. But there was also anger at the suffering inflicted on Roisin and her unborn child, including almost a hundred strip-searches, the denial of essential prenatal care and seven days of brutal interrogation at the hands of the sectarian Royal Ulster Constabulary.

From GLW issue 277