French paedophile Furic wanted in Odisha rearrested in Germany

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Dec 5:

Fugitive Frenchman Mathieu Nicolas Furic, wanted in connection with a paedophilia case in Odisha’s Puri town, who last week won an appeal against being extradited from Namibia to India, has been rearrested in Germany on Thursday morning.

According to a report published in allafrica.com today, Furic was arrested after arriving at Frankfurt Airport in Germany. The report said his arrest was confirmed yesterday afternoon by Namibian Police spokesperson, deputy commissioner Edwin Kanguatjivi.

Kanguatjivi said Furic was arrested since an Interpol Red Corner Notice in respect of the Frenchman remained in force even after Furic won an appeal against his requested extradition from Namibia to India, the report said.

India had issued an Interpol Red Corner Notice request for the arrest of a fugitive with the aim of extraditing the person to India where he is wanted in connection with alleged crimes.

Kanguatjivi said Furic would now have to go through extradition procedures in Germany.

The allafrica.com report says the head of Interpol in Namibia, detective chief inspector Immanuel Sam, added yesterday that Furic left Namibia on a flight to Germany on Wednesday evening.

The Windhoek High Court, in its verdict last Thursday, upheld Furic’s appeal against a Windhoek magistrate’s order that he be kept in prison in Namibia to await the decision of the ministry of justice to have him extradited to India.

Judge Christie Liebenberg ordered the immediate release of Furic (46).

Judge Liebenberg found that the Indian extradition request that was sent to the Namibian government after Furic’s arrest at Walvis Bay Airport on 20 June did not meet some of the strict requirements set out in the Extradition Act.

Some of the witness statements that formed part of the extradition request were not certified as translations done by a sworn translator, and documents in the extradition request were also not properly authenticated as required in terms of the Extradition Act, Judge Liebenberg found.

The end effect of those shortcomings was that it was not proven that there was evidence against Furic that would require him to answer to a case in India, the judge found. Judge Naomi Shivute agreed with his decision.

Furic (46) was held in custody in Namibia for five months after his arrest at Walvis Bay Airport. He was arrested when it was noticed that he was the subject of an Interpol Red Notice, which was put out as a result of an arrest warrant that the Indian police had issued in January.

It may be mentioned here that Furic absconded after he was booked for indulging in unnatural sex with four children at a desolate spot near Penthakata along the sea beach in the temple town of Puri on November 26 last year.

James Federic Gorman, a US national from Topeka City in Kansas State, had lodged a complaint with the Sea Beach police station in Puri on December 2, 2013 accusing Furic (48) of indulging in unnatural sex with some children from a slum in Sri Vihar area of Penthakatha in Puri on November 26.

Gorman had also said in his complaint that he was assaulted by Furic when he opposed his depraved activities. The police had lodged a case after Gorman produced a video clip, containing his conversation with the victims in front of the police as evidence against Furic.

After receiving the complaint, police raided the hotel where Furic had stayed, but he had left on November 26. Gorman had also brought the matter to the attention of the then Puri SP Anup Sahoo.

Later, the IIC of the Sea beach police station Pravash Chandra Sahoo launched an investigation into the matter. Even as the Odisha police kept a watch at the Bhubaneswar airport to nab Furic, he managed to fly to Doha by a Qatar Airlines flight from Delhi on December 2, 2013.

Furic was booked under Sections of 18 and 12 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, 341 (wrongful restraint), 323 (causing hurt) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of IPC.

Left with no option, the police was forced to issue a look-out notice on December 4, 2013 and sought the help of the CBI and Interpol in the case.

After Furic was nabbed in Namibia on June 23, Interpol had sought all papers against Furic from the Odisha government’s Home department.

As per the procedure, the matter was placed in the foreign court, which had granted permission after going through the FIR, related documents and evidences, furnished by Puri police. The permission was later challenged by Furic in the Windhoek High Court.