Canadian Olympic gold medallist Myriam Bédard will stay in a Baltimore detention centre at least until Friday in connection with accusations that she abducted her daughter.

Bédard, who made a brief court appearance Tuesday, is facing extradition to Canada over allegations she abducted the 12-year-old, violating a custody order.

Former Canadian Olympian Myriam Bédard made a brief court appearance Tuesday in Maryland.
(Francois Roy/Canadian Press)

However, before the hearing, Bedard's lawyer, John Pepper, said the Olympian is innocent.

Bédard was remanded into custody and will appear for a detention hearing Friday, when a judge will consider whether the U.S. court has the authority to keep her in custody while she awaits an extradition hearing.

Wearing an orange prison jumpsuit Tuesday's, Bédard, who was handcuffed, smiled at her husband Nima Mazhari, who was sitting in the courtroom.

Tuesday's hearing stalled over paperwork needed for the next stage of the extradition proceedings.

Vickie LeDuc, a public information officer with the U.S. attorney's office for the district of Maryland, said the Canadian government has 60 days from the time of the arrest to present formal papers requesting extradition.

Won 2 gold medals in Lillehammer

Bédard, a native of Loretteville, Que., won the bronze medal in the women's biathlon at the 1992 Olympic Winter Games in Albertville, France. Two years later, she won two gold medals at the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway.

Quebec police issued an arrest warrant on Dec. 8 after her ex-husband, Jean Paquet, accused her of violating a custody agreement by taking their daughter out of Quebec City without his permission.

Paquet first complained to police in October, saying Bédard had taken their daughter to the United States.

At Tuesday's news conference, Pepper said that under the joint custody agreement, she is allowed to travel in the United States with her daughter.

He also said Paquet was aware of her plans and location.

Moreover, the U.S. marshals may have not understood the information sent in French by Canadian authorities, the lawyer said.

Pepper said Bédard and her current husband, Mazhari, never hid the fact that they were going to the United States with her daughter in October.

Paquet and his daughter were reunited in Maryland on Saturday, and were expected to drive back to Canada.

Turned selves in to FBI on Dec. 14: Mazhari

Mazhari, interviewed by the Quebec network TVA in the parking lot of the hotel where Bédard was arrested, said they had been living in several different hotels in recent weeks.

He said they turned themselves in to the FBI in Washington after they discovered Dec. 14 that she was being sought by police, but the bureau did nothing.

"They said 'We'll study it,'" Mazhari said.

Asked if the couple had authorization to leave Canada with the daughter, Mazhari said: "I know that he [Paquet] was aware. In any case, it took us two or three months to prepare all this."

Mazhari charged with theft

The couple have also been battling what they claim is "bureaucratic terrorism," saying it is deeply rooted in the Quebec and Canadian media, police and the justice system.

They have sent letters to various Canadian and international officials, including the president of the International Olympic Committee, former UN secretary general Kofi Annan and David Wilkins, U.S. ambassador to Canada.

The letters were part of their continuing battle after Mazhari was charged in 2005 with theft and possession of about 20 stolen paintings by Montreal artist Ghitta Caiserman worth $100,000. Mazhari is due to go on trial in 2007.

Mazhari and Bédard have argued that they were unjustly treated by the Canadian justice system and had planned to denounce their treatment outside Canada. 

With files from the Canadian Press