ITALY DROPS STAFFORDSHIRE MAN’S MURDER EXTRADITION BID

BBC NEWS

Italian authorities have dropped a bid to extradite a man for murder after admitting they had "got the wrong man".

Edmond Arapi, 29, from Staffordshire, was convicted in his absence of killing a man in Genoa in 2004, despite not being in Italy at the time.

Lawyers for the Italian government said they were withdrawing the request after conceding that Mr Arapi, from Leek, was the victim of stolen identity.

Jago Russell, chief executive of human rights charity Fair Trials International, which supported Mr Arapi's case, said: "Italian and British authorities have taken a commonsense approach to this case.

"His case is clear evidence that countries requesting extradition sometimes get it wrong.

"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."