Abduction accused must remain in custody

A former Olympic champion accused of abducting her own child must remain temporarily in the custody of US marshals, a judge said today.

Canadian biathlon star Myriam Bedard (aged 37), who won two Olympic gold medals in Lillehammer, Norway, in 1994, is accused of breaking a child-custody order by bringing her 12-year-old daughter to the US.

US Magistrate Judge James Bredar scheduled a hearing for Friday in Baltimore to decide whether or not the US government had the authority to detain the athlete pending extradition to Canada.

Kevin McCants, a lawyer representing Bedard, said he was working on an arrangement that would enable her to return voluntarily to Quebec on Friday to face the charge. He said the Christmas holidays had made it difficult to negotiate, but he had been in touch with Canadian prosecutors.

“We’re hoping to have a deal in place in the next day or so,” McCants said.

Bedard was arrested on Friday night in Maryland after US marshals found her and her daughter Maude at a Columbia hotel. Bedard, from Quebec, has been in the marshals’ custody since the arrest. Her daughter is with Bedard’s ex-husband, Jean Paquet.

Bedard faces up to 10 years in prison on the child-abduction charge, but her lawyers denied she broke the law.

“She’s confident that when these proceedings are over that…she will be vindicated. She’s done nothing wrong,” McCants said.

Bredar appeared in US District Court in Baltimore wearing an orange jail jumpsuit. McCants said Bedard was disappointed she had to remain in custody, but he said she told him she was okay.

“She was fine with it,” McCants said. “I think I was more disappointed than anyone.”

Assistant US Attorney Philip Jackson argued that Bedard should be detained because she was a flight risk.

Quebec City police obtained an arrest warrant against Bedard on December 8 after Paquet alleged she had taken their daughter away from Quebec City without his permission, in violation of a child-custody order.

An arrest warrant for Bedard was first issued from Quebec City, Canada. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police contacted the US Marshals Service and the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force on December 15 to help find Bedard.

When marshals determined she was in the US, a provisional arrest warrant was obtained on Wednesday. After she was arrested, Bedard was taken to the Howard County Detention Centre in Jessup, Maryland.

John Pepper, another lawyer representing Bedard, said Paquet was kept informed of where the girl was and that Bedard “feels absolutely devastated by the fact that Mr Paquet would act in such a manner”.

Bedard won a bronze medal in the biathlon in the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France.

She has been travelling in the US with her current husband, Nima Mazhari, who was at the court today.

Mazhari has had his own share of legal problems, being charged in 2005 with theft and possession of about 20 stolen paintings worth €77,500.