Brazil judge orders release of International Olympic Committee member in ticket probe

The judge granted Mr Hickey a writ of habeas corpus overturning a previous lower court ruling that blocked efforts by Mr Hickey’s lawyers to secure his release.

Pat Hickey has been released on bail from the high-security Bangu Prison in Rio.

Judge Fernando Antonio de Almeida of the Criminal Court in Rio granted an order last night (August 29) to revoke the probation of Mr Hickey, placing him on house arrest.

Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore, NSW Premier Mike Baird, and Governor General Peter Cosgrove were among the government officials who honored Team Australia, which brought home 29 medals from the 15-day Olympics held recently in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Hickey has temporarily stepped down from his role as President of the Olympic Council of Ireland during the investigation and he is now been held in a maximum security prison in Rio following his arrest on the 18 of August. Hickey is also president of the OCI, head of the European Olympic Committees and vice president of the Association of National Olympic Committees.

Mr Hickey left Bangu Prison in a vehicle with blacked out windows.

It’s after his lawyers applied for the 71-year-old’s release on health grounds.

“I have been released from the police detention system”, he confirmed in a statement. “They are celebrated with us when things went right or offered a shoulder to cry on when things didn’t go right”, she said.

Hickey was sharing a prison cell with Kevin Mallon, the director of THG Sports, which is one of two agencies at the centre of the controversy over allegations of illegal ticket sales at Rio 2016.

Mallon was arrested on August 5 and was also held at Bangu.

The scheme, according to Rio police, allegedly involved the funneling of Olympic tickets intended for use by the Irish committee and not authorised for resale to THG Sports. THG were restricted from selling tickets to the Games.