ITALY ABANDONS EXTRADITION BID AFTER ADMITTING IT HAD ‘GOT THE WRONG MAN’

Edmond Arapi with his wife, Georgina, and youngest child

THE GUARDIAN - ADAM GABBATT

Albanian chef who lives in UK was convicted of murder in absentia in Italy after becoming victim of identity theft.

Edmond Arapi was working in a cafe in Trentham, Staffordshire, when the murder was committed in Genoa. The Italian authorities have abandoned a four-year bid to extradite an Albanian chef who lives in the UK after admitting they had "got the wrong man".

The human rights charity Fair Trials International had supported Arapi's case, arguing he had a "compelling" alibi that he had not left the UK between 2000 and 2006.

Jago Russell, chief executive of the charity, said the past year had been a "nightmare" for Arapi.

"His case is clear evidence that countries requesting extradition sometimes get it wrong. Italian and British authorities have taken a commonsense approach to this case," he said.

"We hope European countries will now work together to reform the EU's fast-track extradition system to prevent similar cases of injustice in future."