18 years after he was cleared of attempted murder Briton faces being sent back to prison in Portugal

You´re right bb1.

Anna has picked up this story:

http://www.annaraccoon.com/madeleine-mccann/portuguese-men-o-law/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AnnaRaccoon+%28Anna+Raccoon%29

Update:

http://www.annaraccoon.com/politics/exclusive-update-on-the-portuguese-european-arrest-warrant/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AnnaRaccoon+%28Anna+Raccoon%29

How's this for blind bigotry from a forker?


Re: Man faces retrial for 'murder' in Portugal
LJC Today

He said he believed there had been an "administrative blunder" by the Portuguese police. British police told him he was wanted for "first-degree murder", although other paperwork refers to attempted murder and Mr Jorling is still alive, Mr Mitchell said


Blaming the Portuguese again? If its attempted murder then that is a very serious accusation and even if there has been an administrative blunder I would have thought this does not mean that he cannot be re-investigated. Attempted murder is every bit as bad - think of David Rathband's plight.


Absolutely disgusting - the man has already been CLEARED in a high-profile trial.

And the forker should be ashamed of itself, using the late PC Rathband to score points

Note the forker doesn't have anything to say about this part of the story?


Mr Mitchell was assaulted and had a pistol rammed into his mouth by a police officer before he and his friend were taken to Faro prison where they were held for 11 months before facing trial.

Faro - what a surprise - NOT.

Something else the forkers are ignoring:

Photographer Graham Mitchell spent a year in a Portuguese prison cell before three judges acquitted him and allowed him to return to Britain a free man.

Re: Man faces retrial for 'murder' in Portugal
LJC Today
fred wrote:
I remember this when it happened. This guy was apparantley so off his head on booze, he couldn't remember it.


Ah, the great British drunk again. When people socialise over a bottle or two or three of something, there's no telling what it may lead to!

I think the forker will find it is the German who was too drunk to remember anything

This one isn't going to be swept under the carpet:

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article4206584.ece

Man's horror over 'double jeopardy' extradition battle

By STAFF REPORTER
Published: Today at 11:08
A SHOCKED Brit has been left reeling by a bid by Portuguese cops to extradite him on an attempted murder rap he was cleared of 17 years ago.
Horrified Graham Mitchell thought the case was ancient history and says the 'double jeopardy' request is "hell on Earth".

He was originally arrested alongside pal Warren Tozer in the Algarve in 1994 over an alleged assault.

German tourist Andre Jorling was left paralysed from the waist down after falling from a 12ft sea wall.

Graham, 49, and his friend stood trial but were acquitted in 1995 so he returned home believing that was the end of it.

Now Portuguese authorities want him back to stand trial all over again.

Dad-of-two Graham, from Canterbury, Kent, said: "We are terrified, I'm terrified, my wife's terrified. Our life's been turned upside-down and inside-out. Nothing's the same. Every waking moment is a constant worry.

"It's getting back to like when it was when I first came back from Portugal - it's hell on earth."

Brit cops acting on a European Arrest Warrant held him on March 6 and told him he was wanted for "first-degree murder".

The former Scots guardsman hopes there has been an "administrative blunder" by Portuguese police but still spent a night in Wandsworth prison. The professional photographer will be back at Westminster Magistrates' Court on March 28.

Conservative MP Dominic Raab, a member of the Joint Committee on Human Rights, mocked the bid.

He said: "This is a double jeopardy case 18 years after the crime and they can't even get the charge right. How can you be accused of murder when the victim is still alive?"

Reforms
He is pressing for reforms of the system of European Arrest Warrants (EAWs) because he says foreign justice systems are so "corrupt" and "incompetent".

He added: "The fundamental problem is that there is an assumption that all European justice systems are the same. There are many justice systems across Europe that are either frankly corrupt or incompetent, and therefore buying into that assumption is not only a sham but we are hanging out our citizens to dry on a flawed premise."

Jago Russell, chief executive of Fair Trials International, called for the request to be scrapped.

He said: "We hope that Portugal realises that it would be wrong to extradite Graham so many years after he was cleared, and that they withdraw the request.

"We fear that if they do not, there may be little chance of stopping the extradition under the UK's flawed extradition laws."

The Home Office said it was reviewing EAW arrangements.

A spokesman said: "The Government is reviewing the UK's extradition arrangements to ensure they work efficiently and in the interests of justice."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17440916

20 March 2012 Last updated at 15:21 Share this pageEmailPrint
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Briton Graham Mitchell faces Portugal extradition

By Danny Shaw
Home affairs correspondent, BBC News

A Briton re-arrested over an alleged attempted murder in Portugal of which he was cleared 17 years ago says his world has been "turned upside down".

Photographer Graham Mitchell, 49, from Kent, faces a retrial following his arrest on a European Arrest Warrant.

Portugal's Supreme Court quashed his acquittal in 1996.

Mr Mitchell says he was not informed of the decision and was unaware of the bid to extradite him until he was arrested at his home by UK officers on 6 March.

An official at Portugal's Supreme Judicial Council said a fresh trial was also ordered in 1996.

Information on the documentation relating to the extradition request shows that a decision was made by the Portuguese authorities to apply for an arrest warrant in December 2008.

It was issued in November 2009 and was authorised by the Serious Organised Crime Agency - which handles extradition requests for the UK - last month.

Mr Mitchell says he was not on the run and was easy to trace - living at addresses in Surrey, Wales and now in Canterbury - over the last 17 years.

The former Scots guardsman, who lives with his wife and two children, said he was terrified at the prospect of returning to Portugal where he spent more than a year in prison awaiting trial in conditions he described as "hellish".

He said: "Our life's been turned upside down and inside out. Nothing's the same. Every waking moment is a constant worry.

"It's getting back to like when it was when I first came back from Portugal - it's hell on earth."



Post-traumatic stress

Mr Mitchell and his friend, Warren Tozer, were on a short break in Albufeira, in the Algarve, in May 1994 when they were arrested by Portuguese police investigating a serious assault on Andre Jorling, a 26-year-old German.

Mr Jorling had sustained severe injuries after falling off a 12ft-high sea wall. He was left paralysed from the waist down.

At their trial in March 1995, Mr Mitchell and Mr Tozer were cleared. They were given their passports back and allowed to return to the UK. A TV crew from BBC One's Panorama programme was covering the case at the time and filmed the court proceedings.

The footage shows the judge dismissing the case against the two Britons. They are shown smiling and embracing before leaving the courtroom.

Mr Mitchell, who was treated for post-traumatic stress disorder following his prison ordeal, said he had re-built his life and was the happiest he had ever been until the knock at his door from police earlier this month.

'Reasonable safeguards'

He said that in "hushed tones" police informed him that the Portuguese had requested his extradition for "first degree murder".

Continue reading the main story
“
Start Quote


It is thought the phrase, used on some of the documents, may be a translation error because other paperwork refers to the attempted murder of Mr Jorling, who is still believed to be alive.

Mr Mitchell was held overnight in Wandsworth Prison, in south London, before being released on bail, which includes conditions requiring him to provide a £5,000 surety and report to police daily.

He has already appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court and has another hearing on 28 March.

It is understood that there has been no further contact between the Portuguese authorities and Mr Tozer.

Alex Tinsley, a strategic case worker at the Fair Trials International campaign group which is helping Mr Mitchell, said he was aware of previous cases in which suspects had been sent for trial even though such a move appeared to be unfair.

"We at Fair Trials International regularly deal with cases where judges feel that cases shouldn't go ahead to extradition but they feel powerless to stop it," he said.

"That is a systemic problem with the European Arrest Warrant - it just operates as a streamlined system with no possibility for judges to apply reasonable safeguards."

The case of football supporter Garry Mann illustrated the difficulties UK courts have encountered in blocking seemingly unreasonable extradition requests.

Mann was sent back to Portugal to serve a prison term in 2010, six years after being allowed to leave the country.

In 2009, Edmond Arapi, an Albanian man living in Staffordshire, was detained by British police at the request of the Italian authorities who had convicted him of murder in his absence.

Mr Arapi had a cast-iron alibi but it took a year before the Italians withdrew the extradition request, finally admitting that they had mixed up his identity with someone else.

Review ordered
It is not clear on what basis Portugal's Supreme Court decided to overturn Mr Mitchell's acquittal.

There is no indication of possible new evidence in the extradition paperwork and the authorities have given no indication so far that they have such evidence.

According to Fair Trials International, the arrest warrant is based on the same facts that were the subject of the 1995 trial.

Continue reading the main story
“
Start Quote

The government is reviewing the UK's extradition arrangements to ensure they work efficiently”

Home Office spokeswoman
Under the European Arrest Warrant scheme, domestic courts have few powers to test the evidence underpinning a request for extradition because courts are not obliged to consider the merits of the case.

That was one of the concerns that led Home Secretary Theresa May to commission a review of the system.

The review, led by Sir Scott Baker, a retired judge, set out proposals to ensure that suspects were not transferred between countries for relatively minor crimes.

But Sir Scott concluded that, overall, the scheme was operating "satisfactorily" and contained "formidable" safeguards against abuse.

He said there was nothing he had seen to suggest that European Arrest Warrants were being issued in cases where there was "insufficient evidence".

The Home Office said it would respond to the recommendations shortly.

A spokeswoman said: "The government is reviewing the UK's extradition arrangements to ensure they work efficiently and in the interests of justice.

"We will continue to press EU countries to consider proportionality when issuing European Arrest Warrants."

---------------------------

Maybe it's about time for British tourists to stop holidaying in Portugal? This happens way, way too often. And let us not forget the number of UK tourists who have been crime victims - some even losing their lives - and the police have done little or nothing.

Portugal is supposed to be a 21st century European democracy; it's about time it started acting like one, IMO.

Can I ask, why Warren Tozer hasn't been treated in the same manner?

Good point, Tony - why are they only targetting one man?

It's hard not to get the impression that the authorities in Faro (where else) resent, not only this man being cleared, but being filmed being cleared.

bb1 wrote:Good point, Tony - why are they only targetting one man?

It's hard not to get the impression that the authorities in Faro (where else) resent, not only this man being cleared, but being filmed being cleared.

A skunk smells better than this case, Bonny.

And here it is:

http://thehoundingofthemccans.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/yo-portugal-kooee-portugal-can-you-lot.html

Forgot to add link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:09CFREU-Article50.jpg#file

Is Faro showing the world how moronic they are regarding law, intentionally, or is this purely by chance?

crazytony wrote:Can I ask, why Warren Tozer hasn't been treated in the same manner?

I think Mr. Tozer is in Australia, so Portugal might have a bit of trouble getting him out of there. Especially in the light of the Australian woman who committed suicide in Portugal by hitting herself over the head four times.

honestbroker wrote:

lily wrote:Is Faro showing the world how moronic they are regarding law, intentionally, or is this purely by chance?

It doesn't seem to be just Portugal, Lily. France actually raised a warrant for Deborah Dark to serve a 6 year prison sentence after they'd tried and acquitted her, then re-tried her in her absence and convicted her.

First Deborah Dark knew was when she visited Spain and was arrested by Spanish customs.

Spanish customs refused to extradite her, presumably on the double jeopardy principle, and France have only just, recently, revoked the warrant.

HB, it makes you wonder if these people even understand EU law?

I hope that they sue the heck out of all the responsible parties.

All members of the Council of Europe (which includes nearly all European countries, and every member of the European Union) have signed the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects against double jeopardy. The optional Seventh Protocol to the Convention, Article Four, says:

No one shall be liable to be tried or punished again in criminal proceedings under the jurisdiction of the same State for an offence for which he or she has already been finally acquitted or convicted in accordance with the law and penal procedure of that State.

Member states may, however, implement legislation which allows reopening of a case in the event that new evidence is found or if there was a fundamental defect in the previous proceedings.

The provisions of the preceding paragraph shall not prevent the reopening of the case in accordance with the law and penal procedure of the State concerned, if there is evidence of new or newly discovered facts, or if there has been a fundamental defect in the previous proceedings, which could affect the outcome of the case.

This optional protocol has been ratified by all EU states except five (namely Belgium, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, and United Kingdom).[11] In those member states, national rules governing double jeopardy may or may not comply with the provision cited above.

In many European countries the prosecution may appeal an acquittal to a higher court (similar to the provisions of Canadian law) – this is not counted as double jeopardy but as a continuation of the same trial. This is allowed by the European Convention on Human Rights – note the word finally in the above quotation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_jeopardy

It all sounds like sour grapes to me. Portugal is pissed off with The UK because their Judicial System made a fool of itself and it's Secrecy Laws in the botched handling of The Madeleine McCann Abduction by some half arsed incompetent PJ Detective with a Criminal Record. So now they are trying to get their own back.
This is my honest and reasoned opinion. And why I believe that British Tourists are being abused.

Member states may, however, implement legislation which allows reopening of a case in the event that new evidence is found or if there was a fundamental defect in the previous proceedings.

The provisions of the preceding paragraph shall not prevent the reopening of the case in accordance with the law and penal procedure of the State concerned, if there is evidence of new or newly discovered facts, or if there has been a fundamental defect in the previous proceedings, which could affect the outcome of the case.

The above is what I believe Portugal is going to use.

Sabot wrote:
It all sounds like sour grapes to me. Portugal is pissed off with The UK because their Judicial System made a fool of itself and it's Secrecy Laws in the botched handling of The Madeleine McCann Abduction by some half arsed incompetent PJ Detective with a Criminal Record. So now they are trying to get their own back.
This is my honest and reasoned opinion. And why I believe that British Tourists are being abused.

Yes, it smacks of petty revenge, doesn't it - especially with FARO being involved.

bb1 wrote:

Sabot wrote:
It all sounds like sour grapes to me. Portugal is pissed off with The UK because their Judicial System made a fool of itself and it's Secrecy Laws in the botched handling of The Madeleine McCann Abduction by some half arsed incompetent PJ Detective with a Criminal Record. So now they are trying to get their own back.
This is my honest and reasoned opinion. And why I believe that British Tourists are being abused.

Yes, it smacks of petty revenge, doesn't it - especially with FARO being involved.

Certain of it, Bonny. This is not the first time something similar has happened in the last five years. And a lot of Brit tourists have been mugged by Portuguese Criminals, and then ignored by The Portuguese Police.

But if this is what is to be allowed by The UK Government then shame on them. It will do Tourism in Portugal no good at all. And I shall make it my business to broadcast my opinion according to my Right to Free Speach.
Don't go on holiday to Portugal if you value your life and liberty.

After enjoying the hilarious hairy bikers, on BBC2 (www.hairybikers.com), return to daily crooked things in life, such as for example Portugal's latest stunt.

This is another strange case that just raises questions.
The legal basis for an arrest in connection with the murder of Andre Jorling expires, the victim is indeed alive. An attempted murder? Why only Graham and not also Warren Tozer? And what is the legal peg to stimulate this procedure after 17 years?
An Appeal? There must be a reasonable time set on which an appeal may be lodged, for instance, within 1 year ... surely not after 17 years?? Or is there new evidence and if so, where is the proof of that...??

Portuguese revenge or just what we already know.....incompetence??

I am very curious how the British government deals with this.

That is shocking, HB, and a recipe for a police state, IMO.

I sometimes wonder why Portugal bothered having a revolution - the change seems to be purely cosmetic at times.