A Slovak regional court has ruled that three Irish men, detained last month on terrorism charges, can be extradited to Britain. "The court ruled that the extradition of the three is legally acceptable, and now only the minister will decide," said Alica Klimesova of the justice ministry's press office.
The three men are being held in the high-security Leopoldov prison near the Western Slovak town of Trnava after being arrested on an international warrant issued by the British Home Office. Ministry officials said that Slovak Justice Minister Jan Carnogursky could decide on a hand over as early as next week.
Local media have said the three men were detained on suspicion of supporting the dissident Republican group, so-called Real IRA.
The men's lawyer, Jan Gereg, said reportedly that the men were innocent. He added that they were lured by intelligence agents to various locations across Europe before they were detained in the western Slovak spa town of Piestany.
