France seeks extradition of British woman 20 years after alleged incident

For Immediate Release

France is seeking the extradition of Deborah Dark (a British grandmother of two) to serve a six year prison sentence imposed on her (in her absence) twenty-years ago. In the last two years Deborah has been arrested and detained in Turkey, Spain and the UK. Although the courts in both the UK and Spain have decided it would be unjust to send Deborah to France the French are continuing to seek her extradition.

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

“Deborah’s case is a shocking example of the way a system intended to deliver justice has created a blatant injustice. The European Arrest Warrant should have been designed with a time-limit built in but it wasn’t. The result: a person’s life can be turned upside down for an event alleged to have happened 20 years ago.”

Deborah lives in constant fear that she will be extradited to France under a European Arrest Warrant (EAW). In effect she is imprisoned in the UK, too scared to visit her pensioner father who has retired to Spain. Unless the French authorities remove the Warrant against her, Deborah would be arrested every time she steps foot in another European country.

Notes to editors

French proceedings and French European Arrest Warrant

• In 1989, Deborah Dark was arrested in France on suspicion of drug related offences and held in custody for eight and a half months. Her trial took place later in 1989 and the court acquitted her of all charges. She was released from jail and returned to the UK.
• The prosecutor appealed against the decision without notifying Deborah or her French lawyer. The appeal was heard in 1990 with no one there to present Deborah’s defence. The court found her guilty and sentenced Deborah to 6 years’ imprisonment. Again, she was not informed that an appeal had taken place, nor notified that her acquittal had been overturned. As far as she was concerned she had been found not guilty of all charges and was free to start rebuilding her life.
• In April 2005, fifteen years after the conviction on appeal, a European Arrest Warrant (EAW) was issued by the French authorities for Deborah to be returned to France to serve her sentence.

Arrest in Turkey

In 2007, Deborah was arrested at gunpoint in Turkey, while on a package holiday with a friend. The police released her and were unable to explain the reasons for her arrest. Upon her return to the UK, she went to the police station and tried to find out the reasons for her arrest. She was told there was no arrest warrant against her.

Arrest and Extradition Proceedings in Spain

In 2008 Deborah travelled to Spain to visit her father who had retired there. On trying to return to the UK, she was arrested and taken into custody in Spain, where she faced extradition to France. Deborah refused to consent to the extradition, and was granted an extradition hearing. After one month in custody, the Spanish court refused to extradite Deborah on the grounds of unreasonable delay and the significant passage of time. Fifteen years had passed since the conviction for the offences and twenty years had passed since the date that the alleged offences were allegedly committed. Following the decision of the Spanish court, Deborah was released from prison and took a flight back to the UK. However, her ordeal was not over.

Arrest and Extradition Proceedings in the UK

On arrival in the UK, Deborah was arrested again - this time by the British police at Gatwick airport. Once again, she refused to consent to the extradition and was released on bail pending another extradition hearing. The City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court refused the extradition in April 2009. As there is no provision for the withdrawal of the European Arrest Warrant, Deborah is still at risk of being re-arrested on the same EAW if she ever leaves the UK and travels across Europe.

FTI concerns

Deborah’s case raises major fair trial concerns:

• She should never have been tried in her absence in France and without her lawyer being informed of the appeal.
• There were unjustifiable delays in the procedure. No efforts were made by the police to arrest Deborah before 2008. In 2008, 20 years had passed since the alleged incident.
• Due to the passage of time, Deborah could never receive a fair retrial in France: witnesses may not be available and if they are they will be unable to remember the incident. Moreover, although Deborah’s court file is still in existence, the ink has faded and some key documents are illegible.
• The current EAW scheme lacks a straightforward system for individuals to obtain the withdrawal of European Arrest Warrant after a judicial decision has been taken to refuse to execute this EAW. There is even greater concern where the reasoning leading to that decision (eg: the passage of time) would be followed by courts in virtually every Member states of the European Union.
• Deborah Dark’s freedom of movement within the European Union and basic rights are violated: she is unable to travel outside the UK, as she would be at risk of being arrested again on the same EAW. In particular, she is unable to visit her father, a pensioner living in Spain.

To read about other cases of injustice involving the European Arrest Warrant, click here.