He said the medical evidence in her case meant
extradition would be "unjust and oppressive". A Home
Office spokesperson said Roisin was now free.
Roisin had been detained by British authorities for
sixteen months with no clear evidence to link her to an
IRA attack on German soil in 1996. But tonight the
Home Office has abandoned the case only days before St
Patrick's Day protests on behalf of the young Tyrone
woman and other Irish political prisoners are due to
take place worldwide.
Her mother, Mrs Bernadette McAliskey, prominent
Republican and former MP for Mid Ulster, said from her
home in Coalisland, Co Tyrone: "I'm relieved and
delighted.
"We can now concentrate on getting her well again."
Roisin was arrested, while pregnant, at her home in
Tyrone. She was held in the notorious Castlereagh
Interrogation center for six days and vindictively
questioned for twelve hours a day, one hour on and one
hour off. She was then flown to London and thrown into
a filthy, feces-smeared cell in an all-male prison.
Only an international outcry forced her transfer to a
female prison -- where she was strip-searched over a
hundred times and told that she would be forced to give
birth shackled to a prison guard.
The appalling conditions inflicted on Roisin while
carrying her new-born child, Loinnir, had been
condemned by human rights groups such as Amnesty
International and Human Rights Watch.
Roisin's doctors had recently accused the British
government of adding to her suffering by baiting her
with non-existent visits by the psychiatrist appointed
by the British Home Secretary.
But the psychiatrist's assessment is apparently the
basis on which Straw has ordered the extradition bid
ended.
The Dublin-based Sunday Tribune reported yesterday that
Roisin's release was imminent after the psychiatrist
said her mental health had been seriously undermined by
the trauma of her imprisonment at Holloway jail, and
had continued to deteriorate while being held at the
secure wing of a London psychiatric hospital.
He is also believed to have said she would be unable to
face further interrogation on the allegations against
her.
Both the British and German governments had been under
sustained pressure to end their torture of Roisin in a
major international humanitarian campaign for justice.
The Home Office statement eventually announcing the
decision made bitter-sweet reaading for campaigners. It
said that Straw considered the medical evidence in her
case would make the extradition "unjust or oppressive",
and that he had explained his decision to the German
government -- but the Germans have long had no desire to
pursue the case following protests which included pickets
at Lufthansa offices and boycotts of German beer
"It does not reflect in any way on the fairness of the
German legal system or on the quality of the
extradition request," the statement read, and in a
parting remark, it concluded that the Britain enjoyed
"excellent relationships" with Germany for
"international co-operation against terrorism".
But human rights groups and supporters across the world
have expressed their delight at the announcement.
Sinn Fein's Mid-Ulster MP, Martin McGuinness strongly
welcomed the decision. He wished Roisin a speedy
return to full health and praised her family, friends
and solidarity groups worldwide who had campaigned on
her behalf.
John Wadham, director of the civil rights group
Liberty, welcomed the move. "It's a decision that
should have been taken many months ago but it's still
important that it's happened now."