Four weeks after lodging a criminal complaint to the Swiss courts against current UCI president Pat McQuaid and former president Hein Verbruggen, Paul Kimmage and his lawyer Cédric Aguet are still awaiting a decision from the public prosecutor in connection with the case.
On November 1st Kimmage lodged a 28 page document with the public prosecutor in Vevey in Switzerland, requesting the opening of a criminal investigation for ‘slander/defamation, denigration and for strong suspicions of fraud.’
The document lodged comprised a total of 55 exhibits which Kimmage believes supports his case. He was himself previously sued by McQuaid and Verbruggen in connection with an interview he did with Floyd Landis for the Sunday Times, his former employer, as well as a separate interview he did with L’Equipe.
They claimed that he libelled them by calling them corrupt. The case was due to be held in Vevey on December 12th but, on October 26th, the duo said that they were suspending the action until after an independent commission looked into the UCI, its governance of the sport and its handing of the Armstrong case.
Kimmage’s own action followed six days later.
Aguet has told VeloNation that he is still awaiting news from the public prosecutor as to whether he will take up the investigation which has been requested. He said that the delay was not unexpected. “It is normal, it usually takes time,” he confirmed.
Kimmage has informed the Swiss criminal authorities of strong suspicions he has that Verbruggen ‘granted, directly or indirectly, the essential assistance which allowed Lance Armstrong to gain significant sums of money in and out of competition while he was doped.’
He also said that he was publicly called a liar by McQuaid and Verbruggen.
Kimmage has received over $92,000 in support from donors in relation to a legal fund set up by the NYVelocity and Cyclismas websites.
Fuller/Skins case yet to be activated:
Aguet confirmed that a separate case taken by the chairman of the Skins clothing company, Jaimie Fuller, which was announced on November 4th, is yet to move forward. “We have not started the litigation yet,” he told VeloNation. He is also representing Fuller in that action, which sees the Australian seeking a settlement of $2 million in relation to damages he states that Skins has incurred to its business as a result of Verbruggen and McQuaid's handling of the sport.
Fuller has denied suggestions that the case is a publicity stunt, and said that any money secured will be put back into clean cycling rather than into Skins.
He is involved in a new group called Change Cycling Now, which announced its aims yesterday. It is pushing for reform of the UCI and the sport, and also wants anti-doping to be carried out by an independent body.
Anti-doping scientist Michael Ashenden, former Festina trainer Antoine Vayer, Kimmage and the journalist and author David Walsh as also involved.
More names are expected to be announced tomorrow. The group will hold its first meetings in London on Sunday and Monday, and will then hold a press conference announcing its next step.