Daniel Meli extradition: Appeals court rejects AG's bid to bring new evidence
Judge says prosecutors failed to convince court of extraordinary circumstances
Public prosecutors’ attempt to have Daniel Meli extradited to the USA has been dealt a blow after a court dismissed a request for new evidence to be introduced into the case.
A court of appeal presided by Mr Justice Giovanni Grixti said the Attorney General had failed to adequately justify that request and that the legal grounds presented were not sufficient for allowing new evidence at the appeal stage.
Meli is wanted by US authorities to face cybercrime charges in connection with the sale of dangerous computer malware.
He successfully battled extradition charges, but the Attorney General filed an appeal against that decision.
A key argument brought forward by prosecutors centres on the legal validity of documents compiled by a US court in Georgia, which a court ruled could not be included in the case as they were presented too late in proceedings. The Attorney General argued that there were valid legal grounds for the documents to be declared admissible.
But the court of appeal upheld the original court’s rejection.
Evidence could only be introduced at a late stage in exceptional circumstances, the court said, and the Attorney General had not managed to prove those exceptional circumstances existed in this case.
Meli was defended by lawyers Franco Debono, Arthur Azzopardi and Lennox Vella.