BRITISH COURTS TO DECIDE TOMORROW WHETHER TO SEND FATHER OF THREE TO ITALIAN PRISON

Edmond Arapi with his wife, Georgina, and his youngest child

For Immediate Release

The High Court will decide tomorrow whether to uphold the decision to extradite Edmond Arapi (a chef and father of three from Staffordshire) to Italy to serve a sixteen year prison sentence. After a trial he knew nothing about, Edmond was convicted of murder by an Italian court. The murder took place in Genoa (Italy) in October 2004 but Edmond had not left the UK at all between 2000 and 2006 and has never been to Genoa. On the day of the murder, he was at work at Café Davide in Trentham and attending classes toward his chef’s qualification.

Jago Russell, Chief Executive of Fair Trials International, said:
“The UK and Italy could both stop Edmond being torn from his family to serve time for an offence committed in a city he has never even visited. We hope the British courts use their powers to stop this unjust extradition and urge the Italian authorities to drop the Arrest Warrant while Edmond’s compelling alibi evidence is examined.”

Edmond Arapi was convicted in his absence, meaning his clear alibi evidence was never considered by the Italian courts. In fact, until he was arrested on the way back from a family holiday in 2009, Edmond had no idea that he was wanted for a crime or that a trial had even taken place. If he is extradited, Edmond will leave behind his wife, two daughters (aged 3 and 7) and a new-born baby son. He has no automatic guarantee of an effective re-trial in Italy. Even if he is granted a re-trial, he could have to spend months or even years in an Italian jail waiting for it to take place. Despite this, a British magistrate’s court ordered Edmond’s extradition in March of this year.

For more information please contact Fair Trials International on +44 (0)20 7822 2370 or +44 (0)7950 849 851

Notes to Editors

1. Tomorrow’s Hearing
   The appeal against the decision to extradite Arapi is scheduled to take place in the Royal Courts of Justice (the Strand, London) at 2pm in Court 1 before Lord Justice Pitchford and Mr Justice Maddison.
    
2. Background
   Edmond Arapi was born in 1980 and grew up in a village just outside Fier, Albania, where his father was at one time the mayor. He came to the UK in 2000, and met his wife Georgina in the spring of 2001. They have two daughters and a third child, their first son, was born on May 25, 2010. Edmond works as a chef to support the family, and is the family’s sole breadwinner.
   
   Edmond did not leave the UK between the years of 2000-2006. In 2006 Edmond and Georgina travelled to Albania to marry and were there for a few days. The only other time he has left the UK since 2000 was to spend four weeks in Albania with Georgina in May 2009.
    
3. Shock Arrest
   · It was on Edmond’s return from this holiday on 16 June 2009 that Edmond was arrested on the EAW from Italy. Since then, Edmond has been in and out of jails in the UK while his extradition is contested. He is currently on bail with his family in Staffordshire.
   
   · On March 19 2010, Edmond’s extradition was ordered by the Westminster Magistrates Court (Judge Howard Riddle). This decision is being appealed to the UK’s High Court.
   Case of Mistaken Identity
   
   · The evidence used against Edmond at trial is consistent with mistaken identity. Italian prosecuting authorities stated that the accused used an alias, “Edmond Braka aka Mondi”. Edmond Arapi had grown up with a man named Edmond Braka (apparently a common name in Albania) when he was a child in Fier. Their relationship, however, goes no further and they have had no contact in many years.
   
   · Edmond Braka is known to have lived in Italy and is wanted by Albanian authorities for other crimes, including armed robbery. Edmond Arapi believes that Edmond Braka may have been using his identity (Mr Braka would have known or been able to find out Edmond Arapi’s name, parents’ names, and birth date), or that Braka and his associates may have used his name to throw off the investigation.
    
4. Trial in Italy
   · Edmond never received any notice that he was accused of a crime in Italy or that he had in fact been tried and sentenced for one. He had no opportunity to present a defence or to confront the evidence used against him. Nonetheless, his sentence is now considered final.
   
   · The only evidence used at trial to convict Edmond Arapi (aka Edmond Braka) was a telephone transcript, ostensibly between “Edmond Braka” and an associate in Italy (Ermir Braho) in which Braka confesses to the murder. Braho also gave live testimony at the trial.
    
5. What will happen if Edmond is extradited?
   · Italian law does not give a full guarantee a retrial after a trial in absentia. Although defendants who can prove they have not purposefully absented themselves from trial are supposed to have access to better procedures as a result of recent legislation aimed at bringing the Italian criminal code in line with its responsibilities under Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the right to re-examine witnesses and ask for the admission of new evidence is still subject to the court’s discretion. There is no guarantee that Edmond will benefit from any meaningful re-examination of his conviction.
   
   · Even if he is given a retrial, Edmond could spend months or years in an Italian jail waiting for the Italian courts to re-consider his case.
    
6. Political Support for Mr Arapi
   · Edmond’s case has attracted the support of local MPs and MEPs. Karen Bradley, Conservative MP for Staffordshire Moorlands, raised the case at David Cameron’s first Prime Minister’s Questions. Both Mrs Bradley and Edmond’s MEP, Liz Lynne (Lib Deb) have also raised concerns about the case with the British Home and Foreign Secretaries and with Italian and Albanian authorities.
   The European Arrest Warrant
   · Fair Trials International has serious concerns about this fast-track system for extradition within Europe. Read about other cases of injustice involving the European Arrest Warrant.