A man arrested by gardaí in a Dublin apartment, a property believed by gardaí to be linked to the “Kinahan Organised Crime gang”, has lost a High Court challenge to the legality of his detention following a refusal of bail.
Just hours before Mr Justice Seamus Noonan refused the challenge by Naoufal Fassih (35), a Dutch national originally from Morocco, his fresh application for bail was refused by the District Court.
Mr Justice Noonan rejected arguments Mr Fassih was not given a fair hearing before being refused bail, for the first time, by the District Court on April 15th. Before refusing bail on that date, the District Court adjourned the matter four times to allow Mr Fassih to provide evidence which should have been available from the outset, he said.
There was no fundamental denial of justice and no fundamental flaw in this case, he ruled. Mr Fassih had suffered little or no prejudice as a result because he was always free to renew his bail application.
The judge added the orders being sought here were not appropriate ones to pursue via proceedings brought under Article 40 of the Constitution.
Mr Fassih was arrested on April 7th, as part of a Garda investigation into organised crime, at an apartment on Lower Baggot Street where a number of valuable watches were also seized. He was brought before Dublin District Court the following day. He gave a different name on his arrest, the court was told.
He is charged with having two false instruments - a Belgian national identity card and the Dutch passport - both bearing different names, associated charges under the Immigration Act and possession of a small amount of cannabis.
After gardaí objected to bail, there were a number of District Court hearings, during which his identity was established as Nasoufal Fassih and he was ultimately remanded in custody on April 15th to Cloverhill Prison.
His lawyers then initiated proceedings seeking an inquiry, under Article 40 of the Constitution, into the legality of his detention arising from how the District Court refused bail.
Today, Mr Justice Noonan dismissed his arguments he was not given a proper opportunity at the District Court to make a case for bail.
The judge also upheld arguments by Gráinne O’ Neill, for the DPP, the Article 40 procedure was not appropriate.
Ms O’Neill had told the court Mr Fassih’s arrest was part of an investigation into organised crime, he was only in Ireland two days at the time, had no ties here and on his arrest was going by a name that was false. Cash and valuables - a number of watches - were found in “plain sight” in the apartment, she added.
The Garda argument that the applicant posed a flight risk was reasonable, she said.
