Canadian Olympian in court on child abduction charges
Lawyers for former Canadian biathlon champion Myriam Bedard said today their client has not done anything wrong and was prepared to co-operate with authorities on child abduction charges she faces relating to her daughter.
US marshals arrested 37-year-old Bedard on Friday night after they found her and her 12-year-old daughter at a hotel in Columbia, Maryland. Bedard has been in the custody of US marshals since the arrest.
She was scheduled for an initial appearance in federal court in Baltimore later today.
“She’s confident that when these proceedings are over that … she will be vindicated. She’s done nothing wrong,” said Kevin McCants, one of Bedard’s lawyers.
McCants said Bedard was prepared to face the charges either in the US or in Canada, but preferred to be released and return to Canada on her own accord.
Quebec City police obtained an arrest warrant against Bedard on December 8 after her ex-husband, Jean Pacquet, alleged she had taken their daughter away from Quebec City without his permission.
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.
John Pepper, a lawyer who also is representing Bedard, said Pacquet has been unclear about when he wanted to see his daughter.
Bedard won two gold medals in the biathlon competition at the Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway in 1994. She won a bronze medal in that same event in the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France.
Bedard 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 £50,000.
