Irish government diplomats sought assurances Kinahan associate Sean McGovern would not be harmed or tortured prior to arrest
EXCLUSIVE: Department of Justice officials and the minister herself had multiple meetings with top UAE officials to negotiate extradition ground rules over a number of months
The Irish government sought assurances from United Arab Emirates authorities that Sean McGovern would not be subjected to torture or other human rights abuses upon his arrest.
This paper has learned that top-level diplomats working for the Department of Justice held several meetings behind closed doors with UAE officials in Dubai over a number of months, as they hashed out the final details of exactly how Kinahan cartel number two Sean McGovern could be handed over - and what would happen once he was arrested.
We understand that Minister for Justice Helen McEntee had multiple one-on-one phone calls with her UAE counterpart - Abdullah Bin Sultan Bin Awad Al Nuaim - in which the finer details concerning the potential extradition of McGovern - and mob boss Daniel Kinahan - were carved out.
READ MORE: Daniel Kinahan's right hand man Sean McGovern arrested in Dubai during dramatic late-night raid
READ MORE: Interpol issue statement on arrest of 'Ireland’s most wanted' man Sean McGovern
This paper further understands that Department of Justice officials also insisted that any Irish citizen arrested in Dubai must not be subjected to harm amid concerns about the types of conditions prisoners face in the UAE.
It means that mob boss Daniel Kinahan’s right hand man McGovern, who was arrested in a late-night operation in Dubai last Thursday, is likely to be spared from the more brutal conditions in the Dubai Central Prison - where prisoners have claimed to have been tortured.
He may even have the opportunity to be granted bail as he challenges the Irish attempt to extradite him in court.
A spokesperson for the Department of Justice confirmed to this paper that multiple negotiations have taken place between the minister, her senior officials, and officials in the UAE over the past year.
“Negotiations took place both in Ireland and in the UAE, and Minister McEntee was involved in a number of productive conversations with her counterpart over the last year.”
They also confirmed that officials sought to ensure that “essential safeguards” were maintained - meaning that the rights of the detained person would be upheld on both sides of any extradition process.
“In addition, a number of productive in-person negotiating rounds have now taken place between senior Irish officials and their Emirati counterparts.
“The focus of these negotiations has been to ensure that the processes for extradition and mutual legal assistance between Ireland and the United Arab Emirates are structured and simplified, whilst also ensuring essential safeguards are maintained,” a Department of Justice spokesman told us.
“All extradition and mutual assistance agreements with any country have full regards to the legal rights of any individual.”
Sources say the government sought assurances to ensure that, in the event of McGovern and his bosses Daniel, Christy and Christy Jr being extradited, they could not state that their human rights were abused during the process. It comes amid concerns about horrific conditions in Dubai’s prison system.
Radha Stirling, CEO of Detained in Dubai and an expert in contesting Interpol Red Notices, told the Sunday World newspaper that extradition targets usually end up in Dubai Central Prison, known as Al Awir.
Former inmates of this facility have spoken out in the past about the horrific treatment they were subjected to there.
Karl Williams, a British national who was imprisoned there in 2012, said in his memoir that he saw men being stabbed to death, and having electric shocks administered to their testicles.
The Department of Justice has hailed the recent developments in Dubai and cited multiple negotiations over the past year involving the minister in which extradition matters were discussed.
It is understood that officials in Dubai were personally briefed about mob boss Daniel Kinahan, his father Christy and brother Christy Jr - and how gardaí believe they run a multi-national criminal empire worth over €1 billion.
A spokesperson for the Department of Justice went on to state to this paper that Minister McEntee had a number of productive conversations with her counterpart in the last year, in which, crucially, they discussed “the signing of bilateral treaties on extradition and MLA [mutual legal assistance]”.
The spokesperson also spoke of recent visits by Dubai Police to Ireland, which had “proven extremely fruitful and beneficial, and progress on the treaty negotiations has advanced quickly.”
“It is essential that individuals see there can be no hiding place from the law, and that the State will do everything in its power to bring those who spread misery in our communities to justice,” the spokesperson added. “This process is about putting those at the top of organised crime behind bars and holding them responsible for their actions.”
Efforts by the Irish government and Interpol to convince authorities ultimately saw Sean McGovern lifted last week.
McGovern is wanted in Ireland on the foot of a European Arrest Warrant, on suspicion of the murder of innocent dad-of-two Noel ‘Duck Egg’ Kirwan, and on suspicion of directing a criminal organisation.
Interpol said McGovern, who they called “an alleged high-ranking member of the Kinahan Organised Crime Group,” was taken into custody by Dubai Police on Thursday, October 10.
The arrest, they said, followed the publication of an Interpol Red Notice “to support the ongoing collaboration between Irish and UAE authorities.”
Speaking about the arrest, Secretary General Jürgen Stock said: “One of Ireland’s most wanted individuals has been arrested thanks to the combined efforts of the Irish authorities and the United Arab Emirates.
“Cases like this underline the value of international police cooperation via Interpol’s global network, and again highlights that no fugitive can consider themselves safe from justice.”
McGovern is believed to have been central to ordering and executing the shocking gangland murder of Noel Kirwan - who was gunned down outside his Dublin home three days before Christmas 2016.
He is also believed to have been one of the central drivers of the cartel’s efforts in the ruthless Kinahan-Hutch feud, which has seen a total of 18 men killed.
It is believed that Mr Kirwan was only killed because he was seen in the company of top target Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch at his brother’s funeral earlier that year.
McGovern is suspected to have been Kinahan’s man on the ground, who ordered lower-tier cartel thugs in the midst of the bitter feud.
Gardaí first announced the European Arrest Warrant for McGovern at a major press conference that also saw the United States Department of Treasury issue sanctions against the leadership of the Kinahan cartel in April 2022.
McGovern fled to Dubai in 2017 - where he believed he would be safe from extradition. In that time, he became second in command to mob boss Daniel Kinahan.
In announcing the sanctions against the Kinahan organisation, the US government openly named McGovern - who was one of seven top cartel targets they sanctioned - as Daniel Kinahan’s “advisor and closest confidant.”
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