Mr. Peter Nyland, the director of the Swedish online betting firm Unibet, was arrested on the Amsterdam airport, when he was trying to fly to UK.
The Dutch authorites have claimed that they have a warrant from the French authorities that have accussed Mr. Nylande of breaking French laws that prohibit online gambling. This case has apparantely nothing in common with the recent decision against Unibet in the Dutch trial against De Lotto.
It is an application of the controversial European Arrest Warrant, under which people accused of a crime in one country can be arrested in another country without a prima facie case having been established.
According to BBC, French lottery monopoly Francaise des Jeux and horse racing betting monopoly PMU filed the proceedings against Unibet in 2006.
The moment of this new scandal is the worst possible for French authorities that want to comply with the European Commission recommandations and European Court of Justice decisions regarding online gambling in European Union. France could change its gambling laws soon.
Unibet has demanded Nylander’s immediate release. In a statement the company said it was “outraged by France’s total disregard of European Community law aiming to protect a domestic commercial gambling monopoly, which is being challenged by the European Commission. However disturbing French authorities’ methods are, for Unibet it is business as usual.”
The European Commission representative confirmed their concern over the story : “This is an issue which we have been informed about, we are worried about, and that in our view somebody might have been arrested who is innocent under (EU) law,” said Oliver Drewes.
Unibet is registered in Malta, operates out of Britain and is listed on the Stockholm stock exchange. It claims to have 1.8 million customers in 150 countries.
Update 25.10.2007 : After a hearing on 24 October 2007 in the afternoon, Unibet CEO Petter Nylander was released to the more comfortable surroundings of a local hotel, after agreeing not to leave the Netherlands. Nylander is expected to gop at the beginning of the next week in France to face the judge that issues the warrant. Th eFrench authorities were embarrased by the new situation and aid thatThe Financial Minsitry declared it “regretted the timing of Nylander’s arrest and hoped that the FDJ and the PMU would drop the complaints that started the case against his firm.”
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