After two months of near silence, the wider Olympic movement has suddenly swelled up in support of Pat Hickey.
Delegates at yesterday's General Assembly of the 50 European Olympic Committee (EOC) member states voiced "concern and outrage" at his treatment by the Brazilian authorities and the lack of intervention by the Irish Government.
The 45th EOC Assembly in Minsk, Belarus is being attended by some 300 representatives from the EOC, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
According to an Irish representative there, the continued detention of Hickey (71) in Brazil over ticket touting charges was a source of considerable "concern and outrage".
Pere Miro, the deputy director general for relations with IOC, also stated his belief that Hickey "had committed no crime" and was "innocent of all charges". Miro is considered a right hand man of IOC president Thomas Bach. Yesterday's event was the first expression of public support from the Olympic movement, and it was loud and clear.
Emotional defence
The acting EOC president made an emotional defence of Hickey, saying he was “not guilty of any criminal offence” despite his arrest for ticket touting at the Rio Olympics. “We have studied the allegations against Patrick Hickey and from what we know he is not guilty of any criminal offence,”
Janez Kocijancic
told delegates.
Kocijancic (74) from Slovenia, took over the EOC presidency after Hickey temporarily stepped down following his arrest on August 17th at Rio's five-star Winsdor Marapendi Hotel: Hickey also stepped down from his presidency of the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI) and surrendered his position on the executive committee of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Hickey’s position has since been discussed at three extraordinary meetings of the EOC in recent weeks. According to the Irish representative in Minsk, while conscious of not trying to interfere with the Brazilian judicial system, the EOC are increasingly concerned: “He should enjoy the privilege, which is also part of basic human rights, that he should be able to prove his innocence,” said Kocijancic. “He is not in the best health, his health is deteriorating. He has had problems with the heart. He needs heart surgery and doctors think he should be treated in Ireland.
“Our wish is that the authorities take this health situation very seriously and will allow him to come back to Ireland.”
This was said against the backdrop of a picture of Hickey, presented on a large screen, with the message: “The warmest wish is that . . . he can return to his family and Olympic duties as soon as possible”– which according to the Irish representative, was greeted “with rapturous applause”.
Belarus Republic president Alexander Lukashenko, who is also president of their National Olympic Committee (NOC), opened the assembly with a similar defence of Hickey, suggesting there was "no proof" and only "made-up" accusations of his involvement in the Rio ticket touting scandal.
No Irish support
Germany’s Michael Vesper, a member of the 12-person executive committee of the EOC also expressed his concern at the lack of intervention by the Irish Government and Minister for Foreign Affairs, suggesting that if Hickey had been arrested for a crime in a foreign country, he could expect a far greater level of support and intervention.
Hickey remains in Rio awaiting a trial date: after spending 11 days and nights locked up at Rio's Bangu prison, along with fellow Irish suspect Kevin Mallon, he was released, partly due to his "critical health". Then, on September 10th, a Rio judge accepted the charges filed by prosecutors against him, of "facilitating ticket-touting, formation of a cartel and ambush or illicit marketing". If found guilty, Hickey could face up to seven years in jail.
He has surrendered his passport under the conditions of his temporary release, and is not permitted to leave Brazil. There is no indication yet of a court hearing date, nor is there any deadline to set one.
The EOC assembly also confirmed Minsk as the venue for the 2019 European Olympics. Hickey's pet project, the European Games were first staged in Baku in 2015. However the location drew criticism, given the poor human rights record of Azerbaijan.
The EOC had been searching for a host city since the Netherlands withdrew on the eve of Baku. Potential Russian hosts dropped out of the running after the IOC warned they would not support events there following allegations of state-sponsored doping.
However, awarding the Games to Belarus could lead to further criticism on human rights grounds. Lukashenko has been criticised for human rights violations and persecution of non-governmental organisations, national minorities and opposition politicians.
However, only Denmark and Norway voted against Minsk. Five abstained, while 43 of the National Olympic Committees voted in favour.
