Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-11-28-Speech-3-078"
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"en.20011128.4.3-078"2
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"On 15 November, I brought to your attention the plight of the plane spotters arrested in Greece, amongst them my constituents Lesley and Paul Coppin. That was two weeks ago and they are still in jail. Last week I visited Mrs Coppin and she is very distressed.
It may be that some of those arrested have been over enthusiastic in their activities and, technically, may have appeared to have broken Greek law but others in the group, including Mrs Coppin, have done absolutely nothing wrong. There is no evidence against them and no foundation for holding them. These people have therefore been held in custody for almost three weeks on no justifiable basis. Neither they nor their lawyer were present when evidence was originally presented to the investigating judge who took his arbitrary decisions in camera.
For much of the time Mrs Coppin and the other detainees had no idea of the nature of the charges against them or how long they were likely to be kept in prison before their case was dealt with. This is disgraceful by any standards and a flagrant abuse of their civil and human rights.
Provisions under Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights, along with case-law, make clear that persons arrested within the European Union must be brought promptly – and that means within seven days – before a judge who must free them immediately if no foundation for their detention exists. It must have been clear to the judge, by 16 November at the latest, that there was no evidence against many of the individuals and they should therefore have been released immediately.
What we are now seeing is a charade of justice. I ask you, Madam President, and the President of the Council and the Commission President, to take immediate action with the Greek authorities to secure the urgent release of all the detainees from custody, particularly Mrs Coppin. This cannot be allowed to go on for another day."@en1
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