A man from Sierra Leone seeking refugee status here was told by a District Court judge he would not have to serve a six-month sentence if he voluntarily left the country. Hippolitus Ojonuma, who lives in An Poc Fada, the refugee centre in East Beech, Cobh, Co Cork, has mounted a High Court challenge to the legality of the sentence.
Padraig Dwyer SC, who appeared with Ronan Munroe for Ojonuma at a Christmas Eve sitting of the High Court, made a habeus corpus application for his release.
In an affidavit, Joseph S Cuddigan outlined that Ojonuma had been jailed for six months for failing to produce to a garda a temporary residence certificate and failing to give a satisfactory explanation for not doing so.
The District Court judge had told Ojonuma he would suspend the sentence on his production to an immigration officer at any port of departure of a travel ticket on his way out of Ireland.
Michael P O'Higgins, counsel for the State, told Mr Justice George Birmingham the parties had reached a compromise agreement whereby Ojonuma would be released on bail until January 14th.
Meanwhile, he would be required to sign on at his local Garda station three times a week.