According to Flavio Briatore he will start proceedings in the Paris Tribunal de Grande Instance (High Court) today in order to challenge the FIA decision made on 21st September 2009 to ban him indefinitely.
The main points of his appeal are:
The FIA’s deliberate breach of the rights of the defence including the delay in the issue of the summons, the failure to state the charges in advance, and the lack of access provided to prosecution documents and to the key witness.
He will also question the lack of impartiality of the body passing judgment, the secret negotiation of the decision content before the hearing, and the granting of selective immunities in order to build the prosecution’s case
Also coming under question will be the FIA’s manifest excess and abuse of power including the penalty imposed on a non-licensee of the FIA, the disproportionate and illegal nature of an indefinite boycott decision and the threat to refuse to renew the FIA licence in breach of the Federation’s regulations and of the International Sporting Code.
Flav is aiming to obtain an Order from the Court quashing the FIA’s decision insofar as it relates to him, together with an Order requiring the Federation to withdraw any penalty imposed on him. He is also seeking damages and official publication of the court’s decision.
Flav has said that ‘In this case, the FIA has been used as a tool to exact vengeance on behalf of one man. This decision is a legal absurdity and I have every confidence that the French courts will resolve the matter justly and impartially’.
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