GARRY MANN: LAST MINUTE REPRIEVE FROM THE HIGH COURT

For Immediate Release

Garry Mann, a former fireman from Kent, has today won permission to continue his UK legal battle against extradition to Portugal under a European Arrest Warrant. The High Court has granted Mr Mann’s request for an injunction against his extradition until the Court can hear the case on May 7 2010 at 10:30 am. Portuguese authorities are requesting Garry’s extradition to serve a 2 year prison sentence imposed following a trial one British court has already concluded was “unfair”.

Jago Russell, Chief Executive of Fair Trials International, said:
“Today’s decision means we can continue the battle to stop Garry Mann becoming another victim of Europe’s fast-track extradition system. We hope the High Court will take this opportunity to deliver justice and stop Garry being torn from his family and flown to Portugal to serve a two year sentence.”

Garry’s trial in Portugal saw him arrested, tried and convicted all in the space of 48 hours. A British police officer in attendance at the trial has described how Garry was unable to instruct a lawyer and unable to understand the proceedings due to the poor quality of translation and interpretation provided. For this reason, a British court in 2005 found that his conviction in Portugal was unsafe and that the trial had breached his fundamental rights. Despite this, the Magistrates’ Court ordered Garry’s extradition last year, and this week the European Court of Human Rights declined to stop him being sent to Portugal.

For more information please contact Fair Trials International on +44 (0)20 722 2370 or +44 (0)7950 849 851

Notes to Editors

1. Unfair Trial in Portugal
   · Garry Mann, a 52-year-old former fireman from Kent, attended the Euro 2004 football tournament in Portugal. While Garry was spending the night with friends in a bar in Albufeira, a riot took place in a nearby street. Garry was arrested on 15 June 2004 and was arrested, tried and convicted all in the space of 48 hours. A British police officer at the trial has described the proceedings as a “farce”. 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: the interpreter was a local hairdresser and a friend of the judge’s wife.
   
   · On 18 June 2004, 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. New evidence from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office confirms that they, too, shared this view. He was then escorted to the airport by the Portuguese authorities and sent back to the UK without having to serve any time in prison in Portugal.
    
2. British Courts Confirm Violation of Fair Trial Rights
   · Upon his return to the UK, the Chief of Metropolitan Police applied for a worldwide football banning order to prevent Garry from travelling abroad to attend football matches. On 3 August 2005, Justice Stephen Day refused to grant the order, concluding Garry’s trial could not be relied on as it was “so unfair as to be incompatible with the respondents’ right to a fair trial.”
    
3. Extradition request
   · On 6 October 2008, more than four years later, British police arrested Mann under a European Arrest Warrant issued by Portugal. His extradition was ordered by the City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 18 August 2009. Garry’s former legal team missed the deadline for filing the appeal against extradition by a few hours, making it impossible for him to challenge the extradition decision. Garry has no right to appeal against his unsafe conviction in Portugal; if he is extradited he will be sent to prison to serve a 2 year sentence.
    
4. Previous Challenges in UK Courts
   · Garry’s new legal team has made a number of challenges to the extradition. Two of these were refused by the High Court on 19 January. Lord Justice Moses stated in his judgment that he could not “leave this application without remarking upon the inability of this court to rectify what appears to be a serious injustice to Mr Mann”. On 26 March 2010 the High Court refused to consider Garry’s final legal challenge in the UK courts. Lord Justice Moses considered that new evidence from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office "lends force to his belief that a serious injustice" had been committed against Mr Mann. He said “I cannot believe anybody wants this man to go and do 2 years in Albufeira Jail. It is just an embarrassment for everybody, this whole case, and it ought to disappear.” Again, the court requested that a diplomatic solution is sought: "If there was a case for mediation or grown up people getting their heads together then this is it."
    
5. European Court of Human Rights Refuses to Stop Extradition
   · Two emergency applications were to the European Court of Human Rights on 30 March 2010 requesting an injunction to prevent the extradition until the European Court had considered Garry’s treatment in the Portuguese and UK courts. These applications were today rejected by the European Court of Human Rights. Garry could be extradited to Portugal as soon as tomorrow.
    
6. Diplomatic Inaction
   · After writing to the Foreign Secretary in January, Fair Trials International met with the Foreign Office to seek a diplomatic solution to Garry’s predicament. The Foreign Office subsequently wrote to the Portuguese authorities to bring Garry’s case to their attention. Despite a number of subsequent requests from Fair Trials International, the Portuguese Government has failed to respond to requests for them to assist in preventing Garry’s extradition.
    
7. Latest Developments
   · The Serious Organised Crime Agency had this morning informed Garry’s legal team that Mann’s extradition is planned for Wednesday 5th May. Yesterday, Wednesday 28th April, a final judicial review application was filed in the UK’s High Court. The Court is being asked to either block Garry’s extradition because it breaches his human right to a fair trial, or to at least stay his extradition until the ECHR has a chance to decide on his claims. The UK’s High Court has now agreed to consider the case at 10:30 am on May 7th, and to block Garry’s extradition until then.