8:00am Tuesday 24th November 2009
By James Durkin
SUPPORTERS of imprisoned Corfe Castle man Michael Turner have taken their protest to the Hungarian Embassy.
Around 40 campaigners, including Michael’s dad Mark, and South West MEP Lord Dartmouth, demanded his release from a Budapest prison.
Michael, 27, has now spent more than three weeks in detention following his extradition with former business partner Jason McGoldrick.
The pair are accused of defrauding more than 100 people following the collapse of their Budapest-based marketing company in 2004.
They both deny any wrong-doing, insisting it was simply a case of a business failing.
No charges have been brought but they are being held, four to a cell, in a jail on the outskirts of Budapest.
Dad Mark fears the pair could be held for up to a year without charge.
Yesterday supporters travelled to the House of Commons and handed a letter, expressing their concerns over the case, to South Dorset MP Jim Knight.
Mark said: “We met Mr Knight, who said he would pass our letter on to the relevant ministers.
“He told us he’d already written and sent a letter to the Justice Secretary, Jack Straw.”
Then they travelled across London to the Hungarian Embassy, where their chants of “Free Jason and Michael” led to the police being called.
Mark said: “The police suggested they’d received complaints from the Hungarian Embassy.
“We had to remind them that they may be able to silence people in Budapest but we were standing on the pavement of British sovereign territory, and there was no keeping us quiet.”
Following negotiations, Mark and Lord Dartmouth were given permission to enter the embassy and pass their letter of objection to the consulate general.
Lord Dartmouth said: “We are very, very concerned about the conditions Jason and Michael are being held in and there seems little sign of this case actually coming to trial.
“The European arrest warrant was brought in to combat terrorism and violent crime, so this case is a flagrant misuse of this, as it clearly doesn’t fall under these terms.”
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