01 May 2009

Today, the High Court ruled that the extradition of Andrew Symeou must go ahead. Andrew Symeou, a young British man accused of manslaughter, is facing extradition to Greece under a European Arrest Warrant without a British court ever considering the evidence in his case.

The evidence includes statements given by two of his friends while under duress from Greek police officers who reportedly beat them and withheld food and drink - statements which were immediately retracted after the two were released. There are also strong indications that Zante police officers falsified evidence, and witness reports that Andrew was not at the club until 3 hours later have been ignored.

Sabina Frediani, Campaigns Co-ordinator for Liberty, said;

“This alarming case highlights the dangers of summary extradition. No one should be sent anywhere, be it Europe, the US or elsewhere, without a case first being made in a local court - British justice should not be circumvented in this way. Extradition Watch, our new campaign, seeks to pressure Government to stop extradition without safeguards.”

Liberty believes a person should not be extradited to stand trial in a foreign country without evidence being presented to a British court to prove there is a prima facie case against them. If the crime is alleged to have occurred in whole or in part in the UK, then the defendant should not be extradited if a British judge considers the offence should be tried in the United Kingdom.

Contact: Mairi Clare Rodgers on 020 7378 3656 or 07973831128

NOTES TO EDITORS

1. The European Arrest Warrant is based upon the presumption that EU countries all have fair and equal systems of justice which should remove the need for any other country to scrutinise the fairness of extradition to such a country. This presumption is seriously open to question. Under an EAW a person sought by an EU country can be extradited even if the extradition offence may not be an offence in the United Kingdom. The EAW also abolishes the requirement to provide a prima facie case. This seriously increases the risk of injustice in such cases by removing the power of the High Court and Secretary of State to scrutinise the merits in an individual case.

2. The Extradition Act 2003 introduced a two-tier system of extradition depending on the identity of the requesting state. Under the Act, EU Member States who have implemented the Council Framework Decision of 13 June 2002 on the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) and the surrender procedures between Member States are designated for the purposes of extradition by order made under Part 1 of the Act. Some other territories with whom the United Kingdom has extradition relations have been designated by order made under Part 2 of the 2003 Act.