Seanad Éireann debate -
Thursday, 14 Jun 2001

Vol. 167 No. 3

Adjournment Matter. - Irish Prisoners Abroad.

Mr. Costello

I wish to raise the matter of a 15 year old boy who is currently incarcerated in a prison in Munich. With his team mates from East Wall, he went to Germany to play football. Nobody is disputing that an incident occurred in a disco and subsequently continued outside the disco. The boy and a 17 year old youth have been held in an adult prison since 1 June, as I understand it. His family cannot telephone the prison and he cannot telephone home. Both boys are still in Germany and neither family can make contact with them. They are told that if they come to Germany they will get a 15 minute visit.

Compensation has been paid for the damage caused to a vehicle. That was agreed, and the owner of the vehicle has dropped the threat of prosecution. However, the judge, for whatever reason, seems to have been there at one time and then was not around for another period of time. The next hearing of the case is set for 25 June with no guarantee that there will be a final outcome.

I am alarmed that a juvenile of 15 years of age is being kept in a prison. A juvenile of that age could not be legally incarcerated in a prison here. Nor, for that matter, would the 17 year old boy who was with him. I am concerned at the tardiness with which the matter is being dealt with, considering the distance from Germany to here and the difficulty of communication. I would like to know if the Department of Foreign Affairs has made any effort to resolve this matter, what visits have taken place by embassy staff, and what the Minister has to say about the matter. I would certainly like to know what documents he has.

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment and Local Government (Mr. Molloy)

I thank Senator Costello for raising the matter of the rather sad situation this boy has got into. The boy in question was one of 38 youngsters who travelled with nine adults from Dublin to Stamberg, near Munich, for a football tournament. He and a 16 year old companion were arrested there in the early hours of Sunday morning, 3 June, having set fire to a car on their way home from a disco. When the youths appeared in court a few hours later they pleaded guilty to the offence but they were remanded in custody pending a full court hearing. They have to remain in the youth wing at Stadelheim Prison in Munich until they appear in court on 25 June. In Germany, as in most countries, courts do not normally grant bail to non-residents because of the obvious risk that they might leave the country.

Since shortly after his arrest the boy about whom the Senator is inquiring has had the services of German lawyers, both of whom have visited him in prison – first a lawyer known to the local football club which organised the tournament and, since 12 June, a lawyer appointed by the court. While arrangements have been made on behalf of this boy and his companion to compensate the owner of the car destroyed, who is not pressing charges, and to repay the costs incurred by the fire services called to the scene, the youths must still stand trial under German law for the public order offence.

Neither the Irish Embassy in Berlin nor the Irish Consulate General in Munich was notified by the German authorities that these two youths were in custody and this omission is being drawn to the attention of the German authorities. The Department first became aware of this case when contacted on 6 June on behalf of the family of the 15 year old boy.

The roles of the Department of Foreign Affairs and our missions in circumstances such as these are to ensure that the Irish citizen involved has legal representation, is not being treated any less favourably than a national of the country where he is being detained and is able to communicate freely with his legal representative and his family. It is not appropriate for us to become involved in the substance of cases such as this which are matters exclusively for the courts.

The embassy has been liaising closely with this boy's lawyers and with the prosecutor's office. They are satisfied that due process is being followed and that, except with regard to bail, the youth is being treated in the same way as would a German youth. One of the conditions of his detention is that he may not make or receive telephone calls. An application by his lawyer for this restriction to be lifted so that he can communicate with his family in Ireland has been turned down by the judge involved. The embassy and the boy's lawyer have applied for visiting permits for members of the boy's family and it is expected that these will be granted within the next few days. An officer of the embassy in Berlin will go to visit the boy next Monday, 18 June, and will contact the family directly immediately afterwards.

The boy's lawyer is confident that his age, the fact that compensation has been paid and the time that he will have spent in custody will be taken into account by the court on 25 June, so he is optimistic that the boy will be released then. The decision is for the court. In the meantime my Department and the embassy in Berlin will remain in contact with the family, the lawyer and the prosecutor's office and will give whatever help we can to the boy and his family at this difficult time for them.

The Seanad adjourned at 7.30 p.m. until 12 noon on Tuesday, 19 June 2001.