Extradition proceedings against a Maltese man wanted in Italy to face drug trafficking charges are set to start all over again, after a judge annulled a magistrate’s decision refusing extradition on account of “incomplete” documentary information.
John Spiteri, a 56-year-old suspected drug trafficker from Qrendi, was arrested and arraigned in June after being targeted by a European Arrest Warrant issued at the request of the Sicilian authorities.
Spiteri’s name cropped up during investigations into a major trans-European drug trafficking conspiracy.
Italy's extradition request had faltered after the Magistrates’ Court observed that the two-page “covering” document presented by the prosecution lacked necessary information which would have been included in a document known as “Form A.”
That document never made it to court, observed the magistrate.
On the basis of that “incomplete” information, the magistrate said the court could not determine the nature of the offences concerned, whether Spiteri was wanted for an extraditable offence or whether there were bars to extradition.
The Attorney General filed an appeal.
The Court of Criminal Appeal, presided over by Mr Justice Giovanni Grixti, observed that the Magistrates’ Court was “perfectly” right when expressing disappointment about the fact that the SIS alert was “void of supplementary information.”
In fact, a glance at that “one-page” document -va second page was mostly blank- showed that it contained “very basic” information , such as the personal details of the wanted person and the offences for which he was wanted.
The prosecution had requested permission to present the additional information but the court had rejected the request.
However, Mr Justice Grixti observed that the relative law did not make reference to Form A, which, in Spiteri’s case turned out to be less detailed than the European arrest warrant which was presented in the original Italian version, together with an English translation.
Without diminishing the importance of this Form A, the court observed that extradition proceedings depended on correct and accurate information.
These proceedings, based on mutual trust between member states, were also to be wrapped up within 60 days, in terms of law.
Pending this appeal, another extradition case was decided on appeal by a different judge and although the SIS alert in that case did not include the Form A, no obstacle was flagged to the continuation of proceedings.
This court agreed with the reasoning of that court, said Mr Justice Grixti.
The decision by the Magistrates’ Court was to be annulled since it rejected the prosecution’s request on the basis of a document that was not necessary to start the proceedings.
The court had not granted the prosecution the opportunity to make its case and did not consider other issues raised by the prosecution, concluded Mr Justice Grixti, ordering Spiteri to be placed in the position he was in upon arraignment and his case to be tried again.
AG lawyers George Camilleri and Ylenia Marie Abela prosecuted.
Lawyers Franco Debono, Charles Mercieca and Francesca Zarb are defence counsel.