MEP welcomes Italian decision to drop Arapi extradition claim due to mistaken identity
June 15, 2010 4:42 PM
Liz Lynne, Edmond Arapi's constituency MEP, has questioned why it took so long for Italian prosecutors to check the fingerprint evidence
Today's decision by the Italian authorities to drop an extradition case against Leek resident Edmond Arapi due to overwhelming alibi evidence is welcome but should have come much earlier, says Mr Arapi's local Euro MP Liz Lynne.
Mr Arapi, originally from Albania, a chef legally resident in the UK, was given a 16 year jail term by an Italian court for a murder carried out in Genoa in October 2004, on a day he can prove he was working at a café in Trentham in Staffordshire.
His fight against extradition ended today at an appeal hearing in the High Court when a lawyer representing the Italian authorities announced they were dropping the case.
Backed by Lib Dem Euro MEP and Fair Trials International, Mr Arapi had been fighting an extradition claim since being arrested in 2009, despite overwhelming evidence of mistaken identity.
Liz Lynne, whose regional European Parliamentary constituency includes Staffordshire, said: "I am delighted to hear that this terrible ordeal for Mr Arapi and his wife and family is over at last. There was overwhelming evidence that Mr Arapi was in Staffordshire on the day of the crime and that he never left the UK between 2002 and his marriage in 2006.
"It is good news that the Italian prosecutors have dropped the case but why did it take them so long to check the fingerprint evidence which even more clearly than his alibi proved they were chasing the wrong man?
"The real killer, who apparently confessed to the crime and used the name Arapi as a pseudonym, is still at large."
A handwriting expert had earlier authenticated Mr Arapi's signature on a delivery note received at the café in Trentham on October 26 2004, the day of the murder in Genoa.
Liz Lynne raised concerns about the case with the British Home and Foreign Secretaries and with Italian authorities as well as with fellow Liberal and Democrat MEPs from Italy.
She added: "It is somewhat startling that Mr Arapi was totally unaware that he had been accused and tried in absentia for this crime and then had the decision considered by an Italian appeal court.
"The basis of European Human Rights Law is that everyone is entitled to know if they are accused of an offence and given a full and fair trial. In this case, it is quite clear that Mr Arapi was never involved and that basic fingerprinting evidence which would have cleared him was not considered."
"This kind of case unfortunately undermines the principle of the European Arrest Warrant, which is a good one and has led to many international criminals being arrested and convicted."
"I am grateful to the hard work of Fair Trials International who took up this case."
ENDS
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