Ian Bailey: French likely to convict me of du Plantier murder; I'll fight any arrest warrants
By Cormac O' Keeffe
Ian Bailey has said it is likely that French courts will convict him of the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier and that a fresh arrest warrant will be issued to hand him over for sentence.
But he said he would fight any such warrant and said he was being subjected “ongoing mental torture” by French legal authorities.
Mr Bailey received the French indictment last Thursday and on Friday wrote his fourth letter to the DPP Claire Loftus, “pleading” with her to try him for the murder here so he could "defend his name".
He said he would send his second letter to Taoiseach Enda Kenny tomorrow.
Mr Bailey (pictured) said two detectives came to his west Cork home last Thursday and handed what appeared to be an indictment from France.
“It's a French file, created in Paris, which appears to be an indictment, indicating I am being processed on a charge of murder and another of witness-tampering,” Mr Bailey said.
He said he had expected to be arrested under a second European Arrest Warrant (EAW) issued by French judges last August. But he said that he has heard nothing about that second EAW.
“I expect that it is likely I will be processed and found guilty of murder and witness intimidation in France and then there will be another European Arrest Warrant application to hand me over for sentence,” he said.
“If there is another EAW I will fight it. I fought the first one and defeated it in the Supreme Court.”
In 2012, the Supreme Court overturned a High Court decision to hand him over, ruling that Mr Bailey could not be extradited for the purposes of questioning.
Four of the five judges also ruled that he should not be extradited because the offence had been committed outside France.
Under the French legal system, people, including foreign nationals, can be prosecuted for offences against French citizens that occurred outside the country. Mr Bailey could also be tried in his absence.
Ms du Plantier, 39, was discovered fatally beaten outside her holiday home in Schull, west Cork, on December 23, 1996.
Mr Bailey, originally from Manchester, was arrested twice in connection with the murder, in 1997 and 1998. The 60-year-old has always protested his innocence.
His solicitor Frank Buttimer said: “Obviously this is part of the ongoing persecution of Mr Bailey by the French legal system who are receiving ongoing assistance from the Irish justice department.
“I'll issue a formal response on behalf of Mr Bailey when I've finished considering the papers and the implications for Mr Bailey.”
