The Dutch Supreme Court will hold a preliminary hearing on the extradition of Mr Brian Meehan today. The Dublin man is facing charges in relation to drugs, firearms and the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin.
Last December an Amsterdam court granted Mr Meehan's extradition. Mr Meehan has appealed this verdict.
The first hearing of the appeal is due before the five-judge Supreme Court in The Hague at noon.
A spokeswoman for the courts said a second hearing date would be set for the prosecution case to be heard and the decision could take weeks. However, she said the extradition appeal would be processed as quickly as possible.
Mr Meehan is in custody in the Nieuw Vosseveld prison in Vught, about 100 km from Amsterdam. He is housed in single-cell accommodation where prisoners take their meals in their cells.
During the hearing last year Mr Meehan's lawyer said his client was being denied visits and phone calls.
In a statement to The Irish Times the prison authorities said Mr Meehan was housed in the high-security wing assigned to "prisoners who are deemed to be extremely likely to attempt to escape". Visits to the prison and telephone calls by prisoners are "subject to stringent regulations". The statement said it may take time to screen visitors, but there was "no question of prisoners being forbidden to use the telephone or to receive visitors". Prisoners are separated from visitors by a glass partition.
