Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch free to return to Ireland to run in general election

Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch is allowed to return to Ireland after arguing to prosecutors that he wants to run in the general election.

In a stunning development, a spokesman for the Canary Islands High Court of Justice told the Irish Mirror that Hutch’s passport has NOT been revoked - and that he is free to return to Ireland to run in the general election here, after claiming he intends to.

“In reference to the alleged leader of an international gang of criminals who yesterday was provisionally released on bail of 100,000 euros, the investigating court (Instruction 2 of Arrecife) reports that, apart from the aforementioned bail to ensure his presence at the trial, no other precautionary measure has been imposed.”

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The spokesman said this was “since one of the main arguments that both the prosecutor in his favourable report and the investigating magistrate have taken into account when making the decision is that the person under investigation alleged in his appeal that was going to present to an electoral process".

“In this context, the withdrawal of their passport or other measures limiting their movements would prevent their free access to the elections, causing irreparable damage to their right to passive suffrage, which remains intact (only a final ruling can prevent them from standing in an election).”

The shocking development means Hutch can leave Lanzarote and return to Dublin if he so wishes - despite remaining under investigation for alleged money laundering.

Hutch was released from prison on Monday after paying €100,000 for his bail. A spokesman for the Canary Islands High Court of Justice said on Monday: “The Irish citizen in preventive detention in Lanzarote since last October 25 as the alleged leader of an international gang of criminals has been provisionally released on bail of 100,000 euros on the morning of this Monday, November 4, after estimating the judicial authority (Instruction two of Arrecife) his appeal for reform against the prison order.

“The investigating magistrate made this decision after receiving the report from the Public Prosecutor's Office favourable to the appeal. The Irish citizen is being investigated as the alleged perpetrator of a money laundering crime committed within the scope of a criminal organisation.”

It comes after the spokesman last week confirmed that Hutch, who was being held in Tahiche prison, sought bail - and the decision had been deferred to prosecutors.

“The defence of the Irish citizen who was placed in provisional prison last Friday has filed an appeal against the prison order, requesting its revocation, the release of the accused without charges or alternatively his release on bail,” a spokesman told us.

“The judicial authority has not yet resolved the appeal. The Court has forwarded the decision to the Public Prosecutor's Office to report in favour or against such a measure. The magistrate's decision, when it occurs, will be subject to appeal before the Provincial Court of Las Palmas. This is the usual procedure followed in Spain in 99 per cent of cases in which a judge orders provisional imprisonment.”

The spokesman also stated that Hutch has not, nor can he, seek any agreement with Spanish authorities. “In no case, as has been published in his country, has the citizen placed in prison sought 'an agreement' with the Spanish Justice, nor do the Spanish judges reach 'agreements' with the investigated so that they can leave prison,” they said. His younger relative, who was also arrested as part of the probe, was bailed late last Friday evening - and is still residing in Lanzarote.

Meanwhile, a British businessman, who is known to Hutch, is understood to be the only other of the nine arrested individuals to be remanded into custody. Hutch and this businessman are understood to be the two “leaders” of an alleged criminal organisation that Spanish authorities have alluded to. Late on Friday, the Canary Islands High Court of Justice stated that the judicial authority on duty in the judicial district of Arrecife de Lanzarote “has taken statements today from nine people as alleged members of a gang of international criminals, who are being investigated as alleged perpetrators of money laundering crimes committed in the scope of a criminal organisation”.

The spokesman said that the investigating magistrate ordered that two of the criminal organisations “leaders” have been refused bail and “decreed provisional release with charges and precautionary measures for the other seven.

“The investigation continues, it is not closed, and the proceedings are declared secret,” the spokesman continued. Hutch and his young relative were awoken in the middle of the night when Spanish Police moved to arrest him in his Lanzarote home.

The arrest was timed with a search of Hutch’s home in Clontarf in Dublin. Laptops, phones and other devices are understood to have been seized from Hutch’s cul-de-sac home following an early morning raid assisted by armed officers of the Garda Emergency Response Unit.

Meanwhile, it has emerged that a female associate of ‘The Monk,’ who is wanted by the Spanish police as part of the probe, is openly residing here in Ireland - but has not been detained. The woman is wanted in connection with the Spanish probe - but Gardaí do not have the power to hand her over to authorities there without a European Arrest Warrant.

Authorities in the Canary Islands High Court of Justice even named ‘The Monk’ and stated the investigation relates to drug and human trafficking - which differs with a Garda statement alleging money laundering related offences.

“With regards to the alleged international gang arrested in Lanzarote yesterday, the duty court in the Lanzarote capital Arrecife, which is Court of Investigation Number Two, confirms that searches have been carried out in homes in Lanzarote, on the mainland and in Ireland, and that a group of people whose number has not been determined have been arrested. “Among them are an Irish citizen identified in the international press as The Monk,” The High Court of Justice said.

“The proceedings are secret and in the next few days they will be brought before the courts for crimes allegedly related to drug trafficking and human trafficking. Their judicial status will be made public if approved by the relevant judicial authority when this occurs.”

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