BRAZIL BUNGLE DELAYS MALLON BANGU RELEASE
Rio police didn’t have electronic tag PERFECT FOR THE NEW SCHOOL YEAR
IRISHMAN Kevin Mallon’s expected release from a Rio jail hit a lastminute bungle last night when the Brazilian authorities had to admit they didn’t have an electronic tag for him. On a dramatic day in the Irish
Olympics scandal judges had ordered that Dubliner Mr Mallon be fitted with the tag and, after frantic action by his Brazilian lawyers, the court altered the decision, opening the way for his release.
The controversial executive of hospitality firm THG has been incarcerated since his arrest on August 5 at a cocktail party in the Olympic host city. When it emerged he was in possession of nearly 800 Olympic Council of Ireland tickets, the news sparked a crisis that has captured international headlines and rocked the Olympics.
The release comes on a day development that include: ÷Rio police said they would happily co-operate with retired judge Carroll Moran, who is heading the Irish inquiry, and that he would be welcome in Rio. ÷The OCI said it had rented a onebed apartment for Pat Hickey, who has stepped aside as its president, in the hope that he will be freed on bail in the coming days. ÷A solicitor for the Hickey family, who have called on Enda Kenny to meet them, said Mr Hickey was hoping to get documentation from the OCI that would exonerate him.
The Taoiseach has yet to comment on the controversy.
The Hickey family solicitor added that Mr Hickey’s wife, Sylviane, left Brazil without seeing her husband in prison because he feared that she and the rest of the Irish delegation might be arrested.
Mr Hickey and Mr Mallon, who were sharing a cell for the past week, deny wrongdoing. THG also says it was not reselling tickets.
The Brazilian prison service told the Irish Mail on Sunday yesterday that it is ‘struggling to pay and comply with the commitments with the suppliers, and re-establish the supply of the tags’. And it could not say when a tag would be available.
But Mr Mallon’s lawyer Franklin Gomes, said his client was ‘disappointed by the delay because he thought he was being released when we arrived with the paperwork earlier’.
Mr Mallon’s freedom will be contingent on him staying in Brazil for the investigation into allegations of ticket-touting.
In his bail application, his lawyers argued there is no evidence he was selling tickets above face value and that his detention before a formal charge is made was excessive, given ticket touting is a minor offence in Brazil which rarely results in a custodial sentence.
A number of conditions are listed on the release order. He is prohibited from leaving the district without the permission of the court, and he has been given an 8pm curfew each night. His passport will also remain with the authorities.
It comes as police in Brazil have invited the judge leading the nonstatutory inquiry here to come to look at the evidence they have in relation to ticket touting,
The head of the specialised operations units with the civil police in Rio, Ronaldo Oliveira, has told the MoS that they would have ‘no problem’ sharing information with Judge Moran.
He said: ‘We are willing to help. The judge would have to go through the proper channels here. He would have to ask for the information from the chief of police who would allow us share some information from an ongoing investigation.’
He said there are secret files that may be sealed but added: ‘We would willingly help where we could. As a member of the judiciary in Ireland he would apply to the chief of police and he is welcome to come to Brazil and see the evidence we have.’
Fianna Fáil sports spokesman Timmy Dooley had called on Judge Moran to get on a plane and head for Rio ASAP’. He added: ‘The police appear to be very open over there, he may get a lot of answers quite quickly.’ The Inquiry Terms of Reference give Judge Moran the powers to ‘consult with any person or organisation as he sees fit’.
Meanwhile, the Hickey family’s solicitor told Marian Finucane on RTÉ Radio 1 yesterday that Mrs Hickey initially believed her husband’s arrest was a mistake.
She said: ‘I think since she came home she realised how isolated she was from everything and the enormity of it. It takes 20 to 30 days to get in to see him and for that reason he insisted she went home.
‘He was afraid, apparently, that she would be arrested and all of the rest of the Irish contingent would be arrested, so he asked for them all to go home, even though they were all offering to stay and support
‘Get on a plane and head for Rio ASAP’
him. The family haven’t been in any contact with Pat, Sylviane was prevented from seeing him.
‘The family asked whether it is possible, whether they could get messages of support to him. They have huge concerns about his mental state and the fact that he is missing all of them. They haven’t been able to be in any contact.’
The lawyer said she understood that Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan couldn’t intervene with the judicial process of another country, but she said he could still object to the treatment of an Irish citizen. ‘They are elected representatives, that’s their job to look after us, that’s why we elect them and who else if not them,’ she said.
It also emerged that 71-year-old Mr Hickey will stay in a one-bed, €2,300-a-month apartment if he is freed under house arrest. The average rent for a three-bed apartment in Rio is €1,185, while a one-bed city centre flat in €583.91.
OCI officials are so hopeful of his imminent release from Rio’s maximum security Bangu jail that they have already paid a month’s rent.
In order to qualify for home arrest bail conditions he must have an address in Rio.
However, the OCI spokeswoman declined to say if he will be get any allowances for living expenses while waiting for his case to be dealt with, and who would foot the bill for his on-going stay in Rio.
Last week the MoS revealed he will have to pay his legal bills if found guilty of any offence in Brazil. He has a team of solicitors representing him in Brazil, and two separate Dublin-based law firms are representing him and his family. And PR guru Paul Allen said he has been hired by the Dublin solicitor representing his family.
The OCI has hired one of the country’s most expensive firm’s Arthur Cox to represent it at the State inquiry here, and this means there could be a clash between the OCI and Mr Hickey.
He has claimed the OCI has documentation that proves he is innocent of any alleged ticket-touting offences or any international cartel charges. And his family’s solicitor said yesterday she expected solicitors for the OCI would surrender this willingly.
However, when pressed on this the OCI took a much more cautious stance, saying only any such request would be reviewed.
‘The OCI has rented an apartment in Rio for him’