European Arrest Warrant (EAW) victims, Michael Turner and Jason McGoldrick have been released from jail on bail, but Andrew Symeou stays confined to his disgraceful Greek jail where he has been now, for over six months, almost fogotten, with no sight of a trial date or bail.

Let's remember that, if you are extradited under the EAW procedures, the extraditing judge is not allowed to examine the evidence, just check that the warrant is in order. A check of the evidence in either Mike and Jason's or Andrew's cases would, according to several organisations, have resulted in the warrant being thrown out. It needs saying over and over again, that we are inflicting draconian, almost third world, legislative procedures on British subjects and the Westminster government seems not to care about the victims, just about being seen as good "Europeans".

From "Free Mike and Jason"

The Background to the case

Michael Turner (27) and Jason McGoldrick (37) are two hard working, tax paying, law abiding citizens of the UK. Neither have ever been in trouble with the police.

They have been extradited to Budapest to stand trial for fraud in Hungary.

They invested £100,000 in Hungary to set up a business in central Europes post socialist emerging markets. Due to difficult trading conditions the business folded, leaving creditor's to the sum of approximately 5.6 million Hungarian Forints (approx £18,000).  Five years later, the Hungarian authorities decided to turn these creditor's into `victims`.

When Michael and Jason invested  their time and money, Hungary was not even a member of the European community.

After joining and signing up to the 2003 European extradition treaty, they have issued a warrant for Michael and Jason to be extradited to Budapest accused of fraud.

The British justice system has rubber stamped this warrant even though it was not completed properly. They say they have to go along with it, because European politicians have directed them to fully co-operate and not to worry about details!

Michael and Jason's lawyers are convinced that in England it would be easy to show their innocence, but doubt that there is any chance of a fair trial in Hungary.

See also

BBC Briton freed from Hungary jail vows to clear name

Daily Mail British businessmen freed from Hungarian jail after being held for four months without charge From the Mail article:

The men's business - a timeshare company - collapsed in 2005.

Hungarian prosecutors used European arrest warrants to detain the men alleging the company's creditors were the victims of fraud.

But Mr Turner and his family have always protested his innocence.

Mr Turner senior, a pub landlord, said: 'These guys have never been charged with any crime, and been in prison. They're guys of great integrity who have never done anything wrong with their lives.

'They've not rushed on a plane and said let's get out of here, they want the opportunity to clear their names and deal with the Hungarian authorities.'

Mr Turner senior said the men were 'ecstatic' but 'confused' to be freed.

He said the men had not been treated well during their time in prison.

'I saw Michael on Thursday when I visited at prison, you can see both of them have their clothes hanging off them, like they've been in a concentration camp,' Mr Turner senior said.

'They're pale and malnourished. Michael has lost about three stone in weight - things you would expect to see in someone not looked after well.'

Here are a few extracts

The English are, of course, a European nation, but we are different by virtue of our history from the others.

The right of a German or Frenchman to free speech is a grant by law - essentially an entitlement rather than a right. Here, it requires a law to set limits upon that right, which in this Kingdom is (I'm sorry Professor Dawkins) the God-given right of an Englishman or woman from birth.

The basic assumptions underlying the two systems of law, English Common law and European law, are such that they cannot exist side by side.

Nor is it just a matter of law. Our history has shaped our society to be different.

Churchill was right. We should wish European union well - so long as it does not seek to cross the Channel. Certainly I have no ill will towards our friends on the mainland, but I think it is time the British dog got out of the federalist manger. I could live happily on the mainland as a foreigner. I believe that we should have a treaty relationship with other European nations covering matters of mutual interest, but that our Parliament should remain fully sovereign.

Divorce is never easy, but it may be better than persisting in an unhappy marriage.

 This is why we can never be part of this supra-national government. 

Geert Wilders, was the little-known (outside of the Netherlands) leader of a very small party, PVV, the Party for Freedom. As Diana West of Europe News reminds us:

"Only a year and a half later, Wilders is the most famous Dutchman in the world, and his party rivals the current ruling party in popularity. Wilders is also now on trial for his political life and liberty -- hardly a coincidence."

Notable highlights are:

I would like to begin by saying that of all our attainments, freedom is the most precious and most vulnerable.

I have nothing against Muslims. I have a problem with the Islam and the Islamization of our country because Islam is at right angles to freedom. Future generations will wonder how we, in 2010, at this location, in this room, served our most precious asset. Whether the freedom is for both sides in this debate and thus also for Islam-critics. Or whether in the Netherlands only one side of the debate may be heard. Whether freedom of speech in the Netherlands applies to everyone, or only to some.

I hope she, Lady Justice, will hear the following phrases sound, loud and clear:

"It is not only the right, but also the duty of free people to speak out against any ideology that threatens freedom."

Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States, was right:
"The price for freedom is eternal vigilance."

 

Read the full transcript at Europe News

Yet a senior judge said he had been the victim of a "serious injustice" (Daily Telegraph Jan 19th, 2010). How many more people, rotting in continental jails, who are victims of "serious injustice" will it take before anything is done about this obnoxious European Arrest Warrant (EAW). Yet Lord West, who has responsibility for extraditions, said in December 2009:

"The Government is satisfied that the EAW is working well"

Let's not forget that Andrew Symeou has now be in a Greek jail, in squalid conditions, for over six months, refused bail and with no sign of a trial date. As Private Eye noted in December (copy 1252 page 32)

Evidence in the case, seen by the Eye, suggests that some of it was fabricated or obtained by violent intimidation of witnesses.

But let's remember the most important fact. Under the EAW, the British extraditing judge is no longer allowed to consider the evidence, just whether the Warrant is in order. However bad, or discredited the evidence, our basic english freedoms have been discarded in favour of "mutual respect" of another states judicial system, some of which are decidedly suspect.

How much longer will this go on? Until we either revoke the EAW or leave the E.U. I recommend that you do not go on holiday to any EU State. It can haul you back at the whim of a corrupt mayor on false charges, holding you to ransom over some parking charge extortion racket, or any number of money making schemes still being thought up and you will have no way of preventing 'our' Westminster Government from handing you over.

"Andrew Symeou, 21, from Enfield, was returned to Greece in July 2009 on a controversial charge related to the death of a fellow young Briton in a Greek nightclub. He has been denied bail and his lawyers maintain there have been brutal police tactics, fabrication of evidence and even torture of witnesses." Baroness Ludford, January 8th, 2010

EAW and Politics. On a political note, it is interesting to compare the position of the two MEPs, regarding the European Arrest Warrant (EAW). From previous posts you will know what a dreadful instrument this is as anyone can now be extradited to any EU State and the English extraditing Magistrate is not allowed to examine the evidence. Some very basic fundamental rights of English people have just been discarded. Think carefully before booking that holiday to Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Lithuania ........

[Photo 1 - Delivery of the petition at the Greek Embassy, London - Baroness Ludford can be seen in the white coat and black hat ] 

Gerard Batten Gerard Batten MEP has drawn attention to the injustices of the European Arrest Warrant. Here the family of Andrew Symeou, now awaiting trial in Greece, tell of his current situation. Under a EAW any British citizen may now be extradited to another EU country as a mere bureaucratic formality.

Baroness Ludford said, in a speech delivered to the European Parliament on Tue 24th Nov 2009 "So I support the European arrest warrant, but we absolutely must have the defendants' rights to go with it. Otherwise we will have scandals like that of Andrew Symeou which destroy public support for the European arrest warrant, as is happening in my country."

As I write this is warmth and comfort, I am trying to think of how Andrew must feel, in a filthy cockroach infested prison cell, discarded by the Westminster political machine as irrelevant. The Home Office recently said to me about this case.

"The Government is satisfied that the EAW is working well and there are no plans to review Part 1 of the Act"

 [Photo 2 - MEP Gerard Batten being interviewd by a TV crew]

Working well? Just ask the Symeou family and the ever growing list of individuals now incarcerated in squalid jails throughout the European Union, what they think. They have discovered that the British Justice system, based on Common Law where the individual has many rights which they once took for granted is so so very different from EU justice which on the whole is based on the Napoleonic code, where the State has all the rights.

Staycation this year? For those that can still afford a holiday in another EU State, "Staycations" now makes more sense than ever.

From Fair Trials International, Nov 24th, 2009.

Greek police fabricated evidence and lied under oath in order to frame Andrew Symeou, according to a criminal complaint being filed by Andrew's lawyer in Greece. Andrew, a 20 year old British man from Enfield, is accused of involvement in the tragic death of another young British man in a nightclub in Zante, Greece in 2007.

Jago Russell, Chief Executive of Fair Trials International, said:

"Andrew should not have been extradited on the basis of this fabricated evidence and flawed investigation. This young man has already spent four months in a Greek jail, and still no trial date is in sight."

Despite serious flaws in the case against him, in July of this year British courts ordered his extradition to Greece under a European Arrest Warrant. Andrew remains in prison, having been twice refused bail on the grounds that he is not a Greek national.

Read also the speech made by Baroness Ludford, Liberal Democrat Member of the European Parliament for London and remember that the Liberal Democrats are completely and fully supportive of our European Government.

Sarah speaks to the European Parliament about the European Arrest Warrant, defendants' rights and Andrew Symeou

Speech by Sarah Ludford MEP delivered to the European Parliament on Tue 24th Nov 2009

Sarah Ludford (ALDE). - Mr President, the Swedish Presidency is to be congratulated for the way they have pushed the overdue question of defendants' rights to fair treatment across Europe. This is absolutely essential to accompany the European arrest warrant. We need to ensure that mutual recognition really can be based on mutual confidence in all the national criminal justice systems. This is not the case at present and there are severe weaknesses.

I also have a constituent, Andrew Symeou, who has been in jail in Greece since July, refused bail because he was a foreigner. His Greek lawyer has made a complaint about police abuse and destruction of evidence. An application will be made to the European Court of Human Rights, and it is pretty shameful that this is necessary, because this is about the treatment of one EU citizen by another Member State. It is shocking that this has to go to Strasbourg.

So I support the European arrest warrant, but we absolutely must have the defendants' rights to go with it. Otherwise we will have scandals like that of Andrew Symeou which destroy public support for the European arrest warrant, as is happening in my country.

[See Climategate on YouTube]

Page 18/19. "The Government?"

38. The scheme for the new institutional arrangement under the Convention will be based on three basic pillars: government; facilitative mechanism; and financial mechanism, and the basic organization of which will include the following: (a) The government will be ruled by the COP with the support of a new subsidiary body on adaptation, and of an Executive Board responsible for the management of the new funds and the related facilitative processes and bodies. The current Convention secretariat will operate as such, as appropriate.

 

(b) The Convention's financial mechanism will include a multilateral climate change fund including five windows: (a) an Adaptation window, (b) a Compensation window, to address loss and damage from climate change impacts, including insurance, rehabilitation and compensatory components, (c) a Technology window; (d) a Mitigation window; and (e) a REDD window, to support a multi-phases process for positive forest incentives relating to REDD actions.

 

(c) The Convention's facilitative mechanism will include: (a) work programmes for adaptation and mitigation; (b) a long-term REDD process; (c) a short-term technology action plan; (d) an expert group on adaptation established by the subsidiary body on adaptation, and expert groups on mitigation, technologies and on monitoring, reporting and verification; and (e) an international registry for the monitoring, reporting and verification of compliance of emission reduction commitments, and the transfer of technical and financial resources from developed countries to developing countries. The secretariat will provide technical and administrative support, including a new centre for information exchange.

... and with only 40 days left for saving the world!

The BBC has maintained a united Global Warming front, in all its news stories, until recently, but the cracks are beginning to show. It started with its scientific correspondent, Paul Hudson, on 9 October 2009 saying What happened to global warming?

"This headline may come as a bit of a surprise, so too might that fact that the warmest year recorded globally was not in 2008 or 2007, but in 1998. But it is true. For the last 11 years we have not observed any increase in global temperatures. And our climate models did not forecast it, even though man-made carbon dioxide, the gas thought to be responsible for warming our planet, has continued to rise."

Now the BBC's Andrew Neil is saying "Apocryphal, some might even say hysterical" about Lord Stern's recent outburst. Neil makes some sound points:

• Part of the problem is that, as those worried about global warming become more apocalyptic, so the supposed scientific consensus about the matter begins to fray at the edges. Then there is the problem that global temperatures have actually been falling since 1998:

• And there is the simple populist resistance to rock stars and rock politicians who lecture the rest of us on the evil of low cost flying while circling the globe in their private jets.

• The media also needs to become tougher in questioning what the experts tell us -- for example, there is much coverage of claims that the Arctic is melting, very little mention that Antarctica, which counts for 90% of the world's ice, has been cooling for the past three decades.

• And we need to be very wary indeed of events that are clearly stunts: there was much unquestioning coverage of the recent underwater meeting of the Maldives cabinet, meant to highlight the danger to the islands of rising sea levels, caused by global warming. Hardly anybody bothered to ask the question: are the seas around the Maldives actually rising? The answer, from the world's greatest authority on the subject, the Commission on Sea Level Change, would seem to be no. It has visited the Maldives regularly in recent years. Its studies show that sea levels today are about 20 centimetres LOWER than they were in the years below 1970, that the current lower level is stable and there is no sign the islands are about to be submerged.

Is global warming just one big scam? It would begin to appear so and remember it wasn't many years ago that the scare was that we were entering a new ice age. However, don't expect this scam to disappear anywhere soon. It is far too convenient a scare for the worlds political class to create new "green" taxes and other powers that have very sinister undertones.

[Photo. Andrew Symeou]

The extract above is from the blog of Roger Helmer MEP.

Andrew Symeou, another victim of the EAW, has now spent 3 months, almost forgotten, in his Greek prison cell, with no sign of a trial date. His father said (fairtrials.net):

'It has been hell ever since he arrived in Greece. I've never seen anything like it. When I first saw him, he'd been forced to sleep on a concrete slab with a filthy, flea-infested blanket which had been left unwashed in the cell for years. 'At one point he was sharing a cell with five Albanian illegal immigrants, in 37C heat with the windows welded shut and a stinking toilet in the corner of the room. He wasn't allowed out of his cell once in four nights. 'When I looked into his eyes this week I saw sheer, blind terror. I'm not sure how many pieces my heart is in now, but what I do know is that it will take a lot for it to heal. 'This is a young man who has never been in any trouble before. He's never been in a fight or been violent to anybody, and the so-called evidence brought against him in this case would be laughed out of a British court. 'But our authorities put Andrew on a plane without any questions asked. We feel utterly helpless and it makes me so angry I can't tell you.'
 

I wonder how many people really understand the significance of the question that she asked. It seemed, from his answer, that Gordon Brown, did not.

Ann Winterton (Congleton) (Con)When the Lisbon treaty comes into force, the European Council will become a formal institution of the European Union, and the United Kingdom will be a member of that institution. Will the Prime Minister confirm that he is bound by its rules, and is thus obliged to further the objectives of the European Union in preference to those of the United Kingdom?

The Prime Minister:We joined the European Union in the 1970s, and we hold by our obligations to the European Union, but that does not prevent us from representing the national sovereignty of this country.

As Richard North reminds us, The European Council becomes an institution of the European Union when the European Constitution Lisbon Treaty comes into force,as it will shortly when the last remaining EU vassal State, Czechoslovakia signs it. This is important as the European Council, as an institution of the EU (Art 9 of the Treaty of the European Union):

... shall aim to promote its values, advance its objectives, serve its interests, those of its citizens and those of the Member States, and ensure the consistency, effectiveness and continuity of its policies and actions.

You might want to read those words again. It says that our Prime Minister, as a member of the European Council "is bound by its rules, and is thus obliged to further the objectives of the European Union in preference to those of the United Kingdom". Ann Winterton was spot on. He becomes a servant of the EU, serving ITS interests, above those of the UK, however much he cares to represent "the national sovereignty of this country".

Wake up Britain to what is really going on, before it is too late.

Remember when you vote in May, that our Prime Minister, whoever he or she will be, will just be a servant of the EU, bound in law to "promote its values, advance its objectives [and] serve its interests", not yours.