Conservative MP to give speech at Lib Dem conference (From Enfield Independent)

Conservative MP Nick de Bois to give speech at Lib Dem conference

2:26pm Thursday 20th September 2012 in News By Bruce Thain

Conservative Enfield North MP Nick de Bois will speak at the Lib Dem party conference discussing issues of civil liberties.

The MP will be addressing Lib Dem activists in Brighton discussing what he calls the “flawed” European Arrest Warrant.

His speech is connected with the case of Andrew Symeou, a student from Enfield who was arrested under the warrant and had to spend a year in a notorious Greek prison.

He said: “Andrew Symeou’s case tells you everything you need to know about how flawed the European Arrest Warrant is.

“His awful experience shows how a British citizen can be taken from their home to another country to face serious charges, despite evidence against them being weak or even fabricated”.

Mr Symeou was on holiday in Zante in July 2007 when 18-year-old Mr Hiles died, after falling from a podium in Rescue nightclub during an evening out.

Prosecutors in Greece accused him of punching Mr Hiles causing the fatal fall and he was extradited to Greece in 2009 before any evidence had been put before a judge and held in a notorious prison for nearly a year.

Mr de Bois hopes the speech will help him gain support for the UK opting out of specific EU crime and policing laws in 2014 before they are accepted indefinitely.