An appeals court yesterday confirmed that Mafia boss Sebastiano Brunno should be extradited.
Mr Justice Antonio Mizzi turned down all the complaints Mr Brunno raised in his appeal, primarily that the Italian authorities’ request was based on incorrect information and should have never been accepted by the first court.
Mr Brunno, known as the head of the Nardo Cosca, a branch of the Sicilian Cosa Nostra, was arrested in Buġibba on October 2, five years after the Sicilian police mounted an extensive hunt for him.
The arrest followed an international investigation coordinated by the Catania anti-Mafia unit with the Maltese Criminal Investigation Department and Drug Squad.
In December, a court acceded to a request by the Italian authorities to send Mr Brunno, 56, back in his homeland to serve a life sentence he received over the 1992 murder of Agnello Nicolo.
Mr Justice Mizzi threw out this defence, saying the mistake changed nothing
The Italian authorities also wanted Mr Brunno over an attempted murder in September of the same year, but the conviction on that crime had been overturned on appeal.
Magistrate Aaron Bugeja, in the first court, said this mistake in the request did not change its substance and the judgment handed down by the Sicilian court and confirmed on appeal proved that Mr Brunno had not served time in jail over the murder.
Mr Brunno’s defence lawyer, Roberto Montalto, argued in the appeal that the request for his client’s extradition was null because it contained a crime that he had not committed.
Even the go-ahead given by Justice Minister Owen Bonnici for hearing the extradition proceedings was based on incorrect documents which had been passed on to the Maltese authorities by the Italian embassy, the lawyer maintained.
But Mr Justice Mizzi yesterday threw out all these arguments, saying the mistake changed nothing in the substance of the request. This latest ruling paves the way for Mr Brunno’s extradition.
Deputy Attorney General Donatella Frendo Dimech appeared for the prosecution.