Herbert C. Thauerer - France
May 05
Herbert Carl Thauerer, an Austrian skipper, has been in prison in France since June 2004, still waiting to be charged with an offence.
A fellow skipper, who he had known for 20 years, was involved in importing cannabis and Herbert had been implicated in this. Unknown to him, France issued a warrant for his arrest.
In November 1999, Herbert sailed to Gibraltar to leave the boat there for the winter. The day before he flew home to England he visited a boat which, unknown to him, was under investigation. As he was leaving, the police arrested the owner and took Herbert into custody as well, saying that he was drunk.
Herbert was kept in prison for two days, which the court later apologised for and said that they just had wanted to make further enquiries. The authorities in Gibraltar found out that he was under investigation in Nimes and arrested him under the French warrant.
Herbert spent 2 years 3 months in prison awaiting extradition to France. After spending a further 4 months on bail, the court in Gibraltar declared that there was insufficient evidence to justify an extradition. As a result, the French authorities abandoned their request. Herbert returned to the UK. During this time he went back to Gibraltar on 3 occasions for hearings, all of which went in his favour.
In March 2004, Herbert was flying to Spain for a holiday with his wife. Passport control informed him that he was wanted by Interpol and rearrested him under the old French warrant. He was sent to France 6 weeks later, having no right to appeal under the new European Arrest Warrant.
Herbert’s detention has been renewed every 4 months but he has yet to be questioned about his alleged involvement in the 1996 conspiracy. The judge is of the opinion that if Herbert were allowed to return to the UK, he would not return. The Home Office sent the judge a letter assuring him that that under the European Arrest Warrant, the UK would send Herbert back to France if he failed to return voluntarily. Unfortunately, this did not change the judge’s decision.
Herbert has spent just a few minutes with his lawyer since his arrest. No evidence has been presented to him.
Fair Trial Issues
- Herbert has not been able to put account forward since his return to France.
- The delay is unjustifiable; the investigation was completed a long time ago. Others arrested in this matter were tried and sentenced years ago and have since been released.
- The fact that Herbert has not seen any new evidence against him also makes it very difficult to prepare for a trial.
- Herbert has been denied bail even though he has proven from his time in Gibraltar that he would not fail to attend court hearings.
- According to our information, prison records identify Herbert as a French citizen named Herbert THAUBER. His Austrian passport has apparently been lost. It is therefore entirely possible that this is a case of mistaken identity
What you can do to help
- Write to Herbert in prison: Mr. Herbert Thauerer No: 14368: Cellule 118, Maison D’Arret De Niems, 131 Chemin De Grezan, BP 3010, 30002 Nimes Cedex 6, FRANCE.
- Write to his wife’s MP, Andrew Tyrie, MP for Chichester, House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA, to voice your concern that her husband has now been held for over 14 month without being given any clear reasoning.
- Write to Mrs Thauerer’s MEP Mr. Peter Skinner, Oakfields, Station Road, Staplehurst, Kent, to request that he raises this case with his Austrian colleagues at the European Parliament.