Garry Mann is finally freed

for immediate release

Garry Mann, a former fire fighter and father of six from Kent, has been released from custody. Garry was extradited to Portugal in 2010 to serve a 2 year prison sentence for involvement in a riot, a sentence imposed following a trial in Portugal in 2004, described by a UK court as “so unfair as to be incompatible with [his] right to a fair trial”. Garry was transferred back to the UK in May 2011, after spending a year in a Portuguese prison and has served several months in a British prison.

Garry Mann, said:
“I am glad to be back home with my family. It was a tough experience to be so far away from home but I’m hoping to finally get on with my life now.”

Jago Russell, Chief Executive of Fair Trials International, said:
“The European Arrest Warrant has turned this family’s life upside down. Sadly, until it is reformed and we have better standards of justice in Europe others will suffer the same fate. We are delighted that Garry is finally able to return home but he should never have been extradited to Portugal following a trial which can only be described as a travesty of justice.”

Garry was arrested in Portugal in 2004 where he was attending the Euro 2004 football tournament. He was tried and convicted in the space of 48 hours for involvement in a riot; had no time to prepare a defence and standards of interpretation were grossly inadequate. A British police officer present at the trial described it as a “farce”. The UK courts have repeatedly recognised the serious injustice in his case but said they were powerless to stop his extradition under the European Arrest Warrant regime.

For more information please contact Fair Trials International on +44 (0)20 7822 2370 or +44 (0)7950 849 851

Notes to Editors

1. Fair Trials International is a human rights charity which provides assistance to people arrested in a country other than their own and campaigns for reform to fight the underlying causes of injustice in cross-border cases.
    
2. For further information about this case and photos of Garry and his family please contact Fair Trials International on 020 7822 2370 or 07950849851. Fair Trials International can provide spokespeople for interviews.
    
3. Full background to Garry Mann’s case.
    
4. Garry’s unfair trial:
   Garry Mann was arrested on 15 June 2004 and was subsequently tried and convicted all in the space of 48 hours. Garry had only five minutes with his lawyer before the trial and did not know what he was charged with until after he was convicted. He was unable to understand the proceedings due to the poor quality of interpretation. Garry consented to his deportation to the UK after reportedly being told by the Portuguese authorities that the sentence would not be carried out if he agreed to voluntary deportation.
   
   Upon his return to the UK, the Chief of Metropolitan Police applied for a worldwide football banning order. On 3 August 2005, Justice Stephen Day refused to grant the order, concluding Garry’s Portuguese trial could not be relied on as it was “so unfair as to be incompatible with [his] right to a fair trial.”
    
5. Extradition request:
   On 6 October 2008, more than four years later, British police arrested Garry Mann under a European Arrest Warrant issued by Portugal requiring Garry to serve his 2 year prison sentence. His extradition was ordered by the City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 18 August 2009.
   
   Garry’s legal team made a number of challenges to the extradition which were all refused by the High Court. Lord Justice Moses however commented that "a serious injustice" had been committed against Garry. “It is just an embarrassment for everybody, this whole case, and it ought to disappear.” The court requested that a diplomatic solution be sought. He added he hoped the “European Court of Human Rights […]or the diplomatic authorities in the UK or in Portugal can strive to achieve some measure of justice for Mr Mann, a justice of which he has been so signally deprived by those on whom he had previously relied”.
    
6. The European Arrest Warrant:
   The European Arrest Warrant is a fast-track system for surrendering people from one European country to another to face trial or serve a prison sentence. It has removed many of the traditional safeguards in the extradition process. If a court in one country demands a person’s arrest and extradition, courts and police in other countries must act on it. In 2009, this fast track extradition system was used to extradite over 4000 people across the EU (700 people from the UK alone).
   
   Fair Trials International has serious concerns about Europe’s fast-track system for extradition and defence rights across the EU. Please visit our campaign pages below to read about other cases of injustice involving the European Arrest Warrant.