NYLANDER ARREST COULD BE WRONGFUL, SAYS E.C. (Update)

26 October 2007

French gaming monopoly law is not in line with EU legislation


The European Commission, which oversees compliance with the European Union trade and services treaty, stepped into the row over the arrest of Unibet CEO Petter Nylander today (Tuesday) commenting that the detained online gambling executive may be innocent of wrongdoing.

Commission spokesman Oliver Drewes told reporters: "It could very well be that somebody has been arrested who is innocent."

Nylander, an outspoken critic of EU state monopolies in gambling, was detained yesterday at Schipol airport by Dutch authorities under a European arrest warrant issued by French authorities for alleged offences in 2006 (see previous InfoPowa reports).

But Drewes said French gaming monopoly law is not in line with EU legislation. "There was an earlier French arrest based on the French legislation in place and that was therefore invoked by the Dutch border police," he said.

France has until the end of October to conform with EU gaming monopoly legislation, he said, adding that he is "...quite confident that we can work this out" without taking legal action.

The Nylander arrest relates to proceedings filed in 2006 by the French state-owned gambling monopoly companies, Francaise des Jeux and PMU against Unibet, alleging breach of French laws dating from 1836 and 1891 and protecting state-owned monopolies.

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