9 hours ago
Rapist and murder suspect block extradition with ECHR claims
Two fugitives wanted for murder and child rape in Brazil have successfully used Britain's human rights laws to avoid extradition.
Marlon Martins Dos Santos and Nicolas Gomes De Brito have both successfully fought extradition to Brazil after claiming it would breach their rights under Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which protects against torture and inhuman treatment.
Dos Santos was sentenced to 14 years in jail in Brazil for repeatedly raping a five year-old girl but by then he had already fled to the UK. A British judge refused Brazil's extradition request on the basis that it would violate his Article 3 rights. In April he was convicted of possessing and distributing more than 1,000 images of child abuse, including the most serious category.
Dos Santos and De Brito are among hundreds of alleged criminals who have avoided extradition to Brazil since 2010.
An undercover investigation by ITV News has found evidence suggesting that some fugitives may be misleading judges in order to use the ECHR to stay in the UK.
The revelations come as a government review of the UK's application of the ECHR is set to be widened to include Article 3 having previously been confined to Article 8, which protects the right to a family life.
Writing in The Times, two Labour MPs said the findings showed why it was 'increasingly clear' that the ECHR needed to be reformed.
Jake Richards, the MP for Rother Valley, and Dan Tomlinson, the MP for Chipping Barnet, said it was 'unacceptable to the British people' that individuals like Dos Santos and De Brito were allowed to remain in the UK.
In a significant intervention, they called on the government to change the law to allow the home secretary to have the final say over the deportation of such individuals who pose a threat to public safety.
Dos Santos is wanted by Brazilian authorities after being convicted of repeatedly raping a five year-old girl but fled to the UK before being sentenced. He had previously been convicted of killing a man in Brazil. A second man named Nicolas Gomes De Brito is wanted by the Brazilian authorities for allegedly ordering the murder of a rival gang member. He fled to the UK in 2019 and appeared on Interpol's most-wanted list.
• How does the ECHR work and what would reform mean?
Brazil requested his extradition in 2022 and he was arrested by British police but he successfully fought his deportation by arguing that it would breach his rights under the ECHR because he would be abused in Brazilian prisons. Among the arguments he made was his claim to have been gay and married to a man, but ITV News filmed him telling an undercover reporter that he had a wife and son who lived with him in the UK.
The judge ultimately ruled that he could remain in the UK due to broader concerns about his treatment in prison unrelated to his sexuality and based on concerns that his rights under Article 3 would be violated.
De Brito now runs his own motorcycle garage in London, where the undercover reporter met him under the guise of discussing a job in security.
In the footage, De Brito spoke openly about a friend being shot and paralysed, a story that matches details of the shooting that Brazilian police say motivated the alleged revenge murder that he is wanted for.
He told the undercover reporter: 'They came for both of us,' he said. 'I was so angry when this happened. I wanted to take the guy, 100 per cent.'
De Brito also said he had pre-settled status in the UK and showed the reporter his visa documentation supposedly allowing him to work in any job.
Rodrigo Cavassoni, the lead investigator on the Brazilian police's case to extradite De Brito, said he poses a threat in Britain. He said: 'Nicolas's extradition is important so he can defend himself against these charges and go before a jury. After the heinous crime, he needs to be tried by Brazilian authorities.'
• ECHR 'must adapt to face growing backlash against migration'
Of the 306 alleged criminals that Brazil has requested to be extradited from the UK since 2009, only four have been arrested.
Jim Gamble, the former head of the National Crime Agency's Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command, said the two cases should act as a 'wake-up call' for the UK to reform the ECHR.
He said: 'I would rather he was back in crowded prison conditions in Brazil than active in the communities in the UK, where he represents a real risk of harm to our children, in fact, that risk manifests itself in him going on to commit a further offence. This is a fundamental flaw that the government and others need to respond to with a sense of urgency.'
