Eric Eoin Marques remanded in High Court extradition proceedings

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Eric Eoin Marques was remanded in continuing custody until 29 June 2015 by Judge Aileen Donnelly in High Court proceedings concerning his extradition to the United States. RTÉ’s report was updated on 12 May 2015.

He was wanted in the US on four charges linked to website images described as extremely violent and graphic. He had previously denied owning and administering Freedom Hosting, an anonymous hosting server where the FBI alleged that members posted millions of child abuse images.

He had been in custody since his arrest in August 2013, after the FBI and gardaí deemed him a flight risk or likely to destroy evidence if released.

His solicitor Caroline Egan told the court that a report dated 7 May confirmed a diagnosis of Asperger’s syndrome following tests in prison. His lawyers denied that introducing the medical evidence was a delaying tactic, saying they had pressed medical experts to carry out the tests. State prosecutors indicated that they wanted independent assessments.

Judge Aileen Donnelly said it was extremely unsatisfactory that medical reports and other submissions remained outstanding. She very reluctantly allowed fresh affidavits and remanded him to appear before the same court on 29 June.

A separate judicial review concerned Ireland’s decision not to prosecute him. The report said that the previous November he had told the Director of Public Prosecutions he would plead guilty in Ireland to charges relating to conspiring to distribute and advertise child abuse images, and advertising and distributing child pornography. DPP Claire Loftus had indicated that she would not bring proceedings in Ireland.

This report covers an earlier stage of the case. Later developments are not reported here.