POLICE CHIEF CRITICISES UK EXTRADITION LAW AHEAD OF HOME OFFICE REVIEW

Edmond Arapi, wanted for a crime he could not have committed

THE GUARDIAN - JAMES MIEKLE

The chief constable for Cambridgeshire has sharply criticised extradition rules as the Home Office prepares to announce a review of existing arrangements, including those with the US and EU countries.

But the review will also look at the operation of the European Arrest Warrant (EAW).

Human rights charity Fair Trials International said it was delighted with the review, pointing to what it sees as injustices over a number of extraditions from the UK to other EU countries. These included the Italian authorities' four-year fight to get an Albanian chef living in Britain extradited after convicting him of murder in absentia, only to admit they were chasing the wrong man.

Jago Russell, the chief executive of the charity, said: "People have been extradited to serve prison sentences imposed after grossly unfair trials, torn from their homes and families for the most minor offences and detained for months without trial in foreign jails. In opposition, both coalition parties expressed concerns about the UK's extradition arrangements. We hope that they will now work with the rest of Europe to deliver a system that is both effective and fair."