Courts / Dublin / Report

Supreme Court clears way for extradition of "world's biggest facilitator of child porn"

Summary

The Supreme Court, by a unanimous vote of five judges, dismissed Eric Eoin Marques's appeal and lifted the stay on his extradition to the United States. Marques, an Irish citizen in his early thirties, has been in custody since August 2013 after refusing bail. He faces U.S. charges of conspiring to distribute and advertise child pornography and of advertising and distributing child pornography, with the FBI alleging he owned and ran the anonymous hosting site Freedom Hosting. His appeal argued that the Minister for Justice had no obligation to obtain reasons from the Director of Public Prosecutions for not prosecuting him in Ireland, and that the Minister's reasons for extradition were adequate. The court held that under the 1965 Extradition Act the Minister may refuse extradition without seeking such reasons, and therefore dismissed the appeal. The decision ends Marques's long legal battle and allows his surrender to U.S. authorities.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Supreme Court clears way for extradition of "world's biggest facilitator of child porn". Procedural stage: appeal

When:

• August 2013 Incident
• May 31st, 2017 Hearing Or Sentence
• November 2017 Hearing Or Sentence
• 2019-03-20 Publication

Case subjects

Places mentioned

Topics

Stage Appeal

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Read the original CNI report