Supporters of UDA leader Johnny Adair are threatening street protests if he is not released from jail. A hearing at Maghaberry prison, Co Antrim, to decide his future ended yesterday.
The Sentence Review Commissioners are expected to announce their decision on Monday. Adair's supporters warned last night that there could be trouble if he is not freed. They are considering a protest outside Stormont followed by a major rally.
Mr John White, chairman of the Ulster Democratic Party, the UDA's political wing, said:
"I would be appealing for any demonstrations to be orderly and disciplined, but who knows what can happen when large groups of people get together?"
The Sentence Review Commissioners made a preliminary ruling in December that Adair be freed. Lawyers for the British government strenuously opposed that recommendation at the two-day hearing in Maghaberry.
The RUC Chief Constable, Sir Ronnie Flanagan, appeared at the hearing on Wednesday and argued strongly that Adair should remain in prison.
Adair, Shankill Road commander of the UDA, was jailed for 16 years in 1996 for directing terrorism. He was granted early release under the Belfast Agreement in September 1999.
However, he was re-arrested last August after the Northern Secretary, Mr Peter Mandelson, decided he had breached the terms of his early release licence.
Adair had appeared at several loyalist shows of strength during the summer. Security sources believed he was instrumental in starting the loyalist feud and in raising sectarian tensions through attacks on nationalist homes in north Belfast. The UDA claimed Adair's return to jail was effectively detention without trial.