IAN BAILEY criticised efforts by the French authorities to have him extradited to France as being based on lies just hours before he was arrested by gardaí on a European Arrest Warrant in connection with the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier.
Mr Bailey told French radio station RTL on Friday evening that he knew nothing at the time about the warrant being endorsed by Mr Justice Michael Peart in the High Court, but dismissed it as being based on wrong information.
“All I know is that this is a tissue of lies . . . I know that incorrect information was sent to France and this is the result,” said Mr Bailey in an interview with RTL reporter Daniel Caron broadcast in France on Saturday.
Contacted by The Irish Times yesterday at his home at Liscaha outside Schull, Co Cork, Mr Bailey who was granted bail by the High Court on Saturday, declined to comment. “We are not taking any questions or making statements, thank you,” said Mr Bailey.
Earlier Mr Bailey’s partner, Jules Thomas, told TV3 News that the French authorities were making “a big mistake” by seeking the arrest and extradition of her partner, insisting that they were looking for the wrong person.
“We received a phone call from a French reporter and that was the first we heard about it. When they [the detectives] called, we were half-expecting it but forewarned is forearmed,” said Ms Thomas.
In France, news of Mr Bailey’s arrest and appearance before the High Court on Saturday was welcomed by Toscan du Plantier’s family, including her mother, Marguerite Bouniol, in an interview with RTL.
“We hope very much because we have spent 13 years waiting for something to be done and now we have reached a moment where things are no longer tenable . . . when you lose a child and when you are waiting for justice,” she said. “One has, how does one say, regret on one side and hope on the other but now hope has grown stronger and we hope that things will advance after the judge decided that there are disturbing contradictions in the testimonies in this case.”
The campaign group set up by Toscan du Plantier’s family and friends, the Association for the Truth about the Murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier, last night issued a statement welcoming the endorsement of the warrant for Mr Bailey’s arrest.
However, the association expressed concern that the High Court decided to grant Mr Bailey bail, saying that part of the complaint filed against him in France is for the subordination of witnesses, which is an offence under French law.
“The association expresses its strong concern about the release of the suspect referred to by the arrest warrant considering that a complaint has been filed in France for subordination of witnesses.
“The continued detention of a suspect is a necessary precaution when the person arrested is a threat to public law and order or to a fair expression of evidence.
“The association requests a constant collaboration between the Irish and French judiciary to guarantee free and safe expression of all existing and future witnesses,” it concluded.