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Scandal of the European Arrest Warrant

Friday, 31st October 2008

Westminster magistrates have rejected an appeal by Andrew Symeou, the 19-year-old London man facing extradition to Greece under a European Arrest Warrant to face a charge of manslaughter.

UKIP MEP Gerard Batten, who has been campaigning in Mr Symeou's behalf, was present at the hearing. He says:

"Mr Symeou's lawyer was only able to appeal because he obtained a copy of the Greek authorities legal papers and argued that they had not followed their own procedures correctly.

"The British courts have no power whatsoever to consider the prima facie evidence against the accused person and decide if there is a proper case to answer.

"Mr Symeou's case perfectly illustrates the dangers posed to our liberties by the EAW, which I have been warning against since it became UK law in 2004.

"If anyone is wondering how we came to be saddled with the EAW, then the best person to ask is Liberal Democrat MEP Graham Watson, who wrote the legislation for the EAW and pushed it through the European Parliament."

If you would like to question him about this, his e-mail address is graham.watson@europarl.europa.eu

Read Gerard Batten's article on the Symeou case at the New Statesman

After the hearing, the Symeou family issued the following statement:

"We have conclusive evidence that proves Andrew Symeou’s innocence; however under the European Arrest Warrant the requesting state does not have to provide any evidence to a British court nor is a British court concerned whether there is a case to answer.

"On 11 November we will be commemorating the sacrifices of members of the British and Commonwealth armed forces and of civilians in times of war; people who fought and sacrificed their lives for our civil liberties. Directives such as the European Arrest Warrant are an erosion of these civil liberties.

"The European Arrest Warrant was designed to fast-track the extradition of terrorists from one European state to another, by bypassing what has been described as red tape, without any real consideration of what effect it would have on innocent individuals. This so called 'red tape' was in fact a fundamental safeguard designed to protect innocent individuals, and no consideration was given to how its removal affects ordinary people like Andrew.

"We will fight this case all the way to the European Court and will not stop until the police officers who manufactured and fabricated evidence against Andrew have been punished for their crimes."

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